Speaking at “Vietnam-U.S Trade Interaction after 2016”, the US consul general in Ho Chi Minh City Ms.Mary Tarnowka said the trade turnovers of Vietnam and the U.S nearly tripled in the last eight years and now tops 45 billion USD. According to Mr.Le Thanh Liem, Deputy chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, the two countries experienced an average trade growth of more than 19 percent a year for the past 10 years.
The U.S is Vietnam’s largest export market, he said. In the first half of 2016, U.S exports to Vietnam surged 44 percent, making Vietnam the fastest growing export market for the U.S.
Vice President of the Vietnam-US Friendship Association’s Ho Chi Minh City chapter Tran Ngoc Chau said it is expected that the bilateral trade turnover between Vietnam and the U.S will reach 57 billion USD in the next five years, with exports from the U.S doubling from now, whether the TPP comes into being or not.
Ms.Mary Tarnowka said that Vietnam’s recent resolution on international economic integration has reaffirmed Vietnam’s intention to continue its economic reforms and further open its economy, with or without TPP. These steps have encouraged the U.S to seek more business with Vietnam.
“This resolution is an important signal to trading partners that Vietnam is moving to establish a level playing field for US companies looking to invest and compete in Vietnam.”, Ms.Mary Tarnowka emphasized.
Ms.Mary Tarnowka said that the reform efforts of Vietnam will promote fair, transparent and predictable regulatory systems that enable innovation, attract trade and investment and promote Vietnam’s continued integration into the regional and global supply chains.
She also spoke about co-operation between the two countries in other sectors like agriculture, education and travel as well as US support for Vietnam’s preparations for the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement and others.
At the conference, former president of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association Le Quoc An said the TPP would enable Vietnamese firms to boost exports to the U.S. However, there is no problem if there is no TPP. Our exports to the U.S were still very good [in the past] without the TPP, he stressed.
He also urged businesses to make more efforts to offer products and services of the best quality to global consumers, especially those in the US, to boost their exports.
Director of the Saigon Hi-Tech Park Le Hoai Quoc, the largest technology cluster in Vietnam expressed his optimistic that U.S tech companies like Intel would continue to grow their business in Vietnam irrespective of the TPP. Intel is increasing its products and volumes of productions in the high-tech zone. He estimated that Intel’s exports from Vietnam will reach 4 billion USD in 2016.
Regarding to the current U.S election, participants at the conference agreed that whoever is president of the US, Vietnam would continue to develop and integrate.
Organized by the Vietnam-US Friendship Association, the Vietnam-U.S Trade Interaction after 2016 conference attracted around 200 delegates, including diplomats, policy makers, entrepreneurs and economists.
