US and North Korea Leaders Will Meet in Hanoi, Vietnam

President Donald Trump announced that Hanoi, Vietnam will be chosen as the place to hold the second US-North Korea summit on February 27 and 28, 2019. There are signs of intention of both parties to transform the relationship and create a solid foundation for the denuclearization of North Korea and end the Korean War. This is the opportunities for Vietnam to promote the country as a place for foreign investors to trust and invest through setting up factory and companies, and further grow the country through foreign direct investment.

Vietnam has been selected as the place for this important international political event due to a number of reasons, including good relations with the US, South Korea and North Korea, closer to North Korea in distance, and that Vietnam is a country with experience in organizing in high security event i.e. APEC 2017 with leaders from US, Russia, China, Japan, Korea. Further, the administration of President Trump thinks that Vietnam is a political and economic model that North Korea should pursue in terms of opening the country and attracting foreign investment, allowing foreigners to set up factory, companies in various areas. From difficult relationship with embargo, the US and Vietnam has now become partners with two-way trade which turnover increased from 451 million USD in 1995 to 52 billion USD in 2016, and that Vietnam has become one of the rising export markets of US. From North Korea’s perspective, Kim Jong-un will be interested in witnessing the story of Vietnam, which can be an inspiration and a model for the road ahead for North Korea to follow.

This event will be an opportunity for Vietnam to promote the country of peace, opportunity, prosperity and land of foreign investment, growing its role in the international markets in both business and politics, which further attract foreign direct investment, the driver for growth of the country over the decades.