At a meeting with former US Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky in Hanoi on December 9, Mr. Hai stressed the importance of pharmaceutical chemistry as a spearhead in the high-tech sector. To build a pharmaceutical industry, Vietnam aims to gradually reduce its reliance on foreign imports, and develop initiatives to provide healthcare services to people, said Mr. Hai.

For her part, Barshefsky informed Mr. Hai of the result of working sessions between the US delegation and the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Health, saying the two sides acknowledged opportunities and challenges in the development of pharmaceutical chemistry in Vietnam and investment and cooperation orientations in the field.

The two sides reached a consensus that foreign investment attraction in the field should go together with technology transfer which is an important factor behind the development of pharmaceutical chemistry in the Southeast Asian nation.

Charlene Barshefsky worked as US Trade Representative in Vietnam from 1997-2001. She also contributed to the signing of the Vietnam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement.