Tim Cook leaves Vietnam.

Apple CEO Tim Cook completed his first trip to Vietnam with six sessions of discussions with developers and content creators, culminating in a meeting with the government .

At nearly 2 PM on April 16th, the private jet carrying Tim Cook and the Apple delegation took off from Noi Bai Airport.

Tim Cook boarded his private jet and departed Hanoi on the afternoon of April 16th. Photo: Giang Huy

Three hours earlier, he had met with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh , expressing his desire to further promote high-quality cooperation and investment in Vietnam.

Here, the Prime Minister highly appreciated Apple's expansion of production and business in Vietnam, creating more than 200,000 jobs for workers. The Prime Minister hoped that Apple would support the training of high-quality human resources and consider Vietnam as a "base" to participate in global supply and production chains and diversify markets.

Meanwhile, the Apple CEO pledged to purchase more components manufactured by partners in Vietnam, while also contributing to innovation, increasing spending on suppliers in Vietnam, and expanding vocational training programs for people with disabilities. He also expressed his desire to further promote Vietnamese culture, including music and film, to the world.

The Prime Minister received Apple CEO Tim Cook on the morning of April 16th in Hanoi. Photo: Doan Bac

Tim Cook arrived in Vietnam in the early morning of April 15th. Speaking to VnExpress , he stated that the purpose of his first trip to Vietnam was to meet with programmers, content creators, and the community. "I was very surprised by how energetic young Vietnamese people are," the Apple CEO said.

During his nearly 36 hours in Vietnam, Cook engaged in seven main activities and posted six articles on social media platform X. This level of updates is considered quite frequent compared to the more than 30 posts he has made on his personal page since the beginning of the year.

First, he met singer My Linh for coffee and chatted for about 30 minutes in the Old Quarter. He discussed various topics related to art, creative fields, technology, and also explored Hanoi's culture and history.

The 63-year-old CEO then moved to Hoan Kiem Lake, met with tech KOL Ngo Duc Duy, and discussed applying iPhone features to content creation. "Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi is as beautiful as an icon," he said. "It was great spending time with Duy and watching his creative process using Cinematic mode on the iPhone 15 Pro."

Tim Cook chats with tech KOL Ngo Duc Duy. Photo: Tuan Hung

After about 15 minutes, he and his team moved to the studio and interacted with young director Phuong Vu (Antiantiart). In the afternoon, the Apple CEO also met with Vietnamese rappers Max and Suboi. He was impressed when he heard Vietnamese creators describe how they apply technology in their work.

"Thanks to VietMax for showing me how iPhones and iPads fit into his street art, and to rapper Suboi for sharing her latest song on Spatial Audio," he wrote on X.

One of the highlights of the visit was a meeting with the developers of the CollaNote and Elsa Speak applications, and a discussion about the Vision Pro support project with Bryan Pelz, CEO of Bootloader Studio.

"I think Vietnam has a very young population, and you can see that in the developers; it's very vibrant and full of energy. You can feel the excitement in me," Tim Cook later told VnExpress .

From left to right: Nguyen Quoc Huy - representative of CollaNote, Van Dinh Hong Vu - representative of Elsa Speak, Bryan Pelz - CEO of Bootloader Studio, and Tim Cook - CEO of Apple. Photo: Apple.

On his second morning in Vietnam, the Apple CEO visited Hanoi Star School, attending a lesson on using iPads and doing exercises with the students. He was described as "friendly, attentive, and caring about education."

Tim Cook said he had a wonderful visit and working trip to Vietnam, receiving a warm welcome from leaders and people, and witnessing firsthand the thriving and vibrant innovation community, believing it will be a "source of development" for Vietnam.

Previously, Apple affirmed its intention to increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, alongside developing community projects. The company stated that it has spent nearly 400 trillion VND since 2019 through its local supply chain and has more than doubled its annual spending on Vietnam during the same period.

Luu Quy - Vnexpress.net