New York, September 22, 2026 – The Europe Today: General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee and President Tô Lâm met with Thomas R. Hardy, Acting Director of the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), in New York on Monday to discuss opportunities for strengthening economic, trade, investment and technology cooperation between Vietnam and the United States.
Tô Lâm commended USTDA’s role in facilitating economic and investment ties between the two countries, particularly through project preparation, feasibility studies, technical assistance and the connection of US businesses with infrastructure projects in Vietnam.
He reaffirmed Vietnam’s importance attached to its Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with the United States and expressed the hope that economic, trade, investment and science and technology cooperation would continue to serve as an important driver of substantive, effective and sustainable bilateral relations.
The Vietnamese leader also valued USTDA’s long-standing cooperation with Vietnam in areas including energy, power grids, aviation, smart cities and digital infrastructure. He noted that these programmes had enabled Vietnam to access US technologies, management expertise and advanced solutions.
Tô Lâm said Vietnam was entering a new stage of development, creating substantial demand for strategic infrastructure, energy, transportation, logistics, digital transformation and high technology. He noted that these areas correspond with US strengths and USTDA’s experience and support mechanisms.
Hardy highlighted Vietnam’s socio-economic development achievements and the progress of bilateral relations. He affirmed that USTDA considers Vietnam an important partner in the Indo-Pacific and values its long-standing cooperation with Vietnamese government agencies and businesses.
According to Hardy, USTDA is prepared to continue supporting Vietnam in preparing and developing high-quality projects aligned with the country’s development priorities, while creating greater opportunities for US technologies, equipment, services and businesses to participate in the Vietnamese market.
He said the agency could deploy instruments including feasibility studies, technical assistance, pilot projects and trade missions to support projects from their preparation stages through to financing readiness and implementation.
Discussing future cooperation, Tô Lâm called on USTDA to strengthen coordination with Vietnamese ministries, sectors and businesses to identify strategic, high-impact projects, particularly in energy and power grids, digital infrastructure and data centres, aviation, seaports, logistics and modern transportation.
He also encouraged USTDA to further strengthen its role as a “pathfinder” from the initial stages of project preparation, helping Vietnam gain early access to US standards, technologies, management expertise and resources.
The Vietnamese leader further called for greater USTDA attention to emerging, technology-intensive and high-value-added sectors, including artificial intelligence, secure digital infrastructure, smart grids, energy security and solutions supporting the green transition.
He also encouraged stronger connections between leading US technology, financial and infrastructure companies and Vietnamese partners.
Hardy agreed with the proposed directions for cooperation and affirmed USTDA’s readiness to work closely with Vietnamese agencies to identify suitable projects and deploy its project-preparation support tools.
He noted that Vietnam’s significant infrastructure development requirements, combined with US strengths in technology, governance and high-quality solutions, provide opportunities for expanded bilateral cooperation.
Hardy reaffirmed that USTDA would strengthen coordination with Vietnamese agencies and businesses, focusing on concrete and feasible projects with broader economic and development impacts, while connecting Vietnam’s development needs with US technologies, resources and businesses.
He said these efforts would contribute to deepening economic, trade and investment relations and adding further substantive content to the Vietnam-US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
