Delegation exchanges, especially visits by high-ranking officials, businesses and organisations of Vietnam and the US, have helped promote understanding and create a stronger ground for bilateral multifaceted cooperation. Agreements, joint statements, cooperation signings between the leaders of the two countries have shown evidence of the joint development of sustainable ties.
Important economic partner
In economic development cooperation, the economic and commercial ties between Vietnam and the US have made impressive progress. The US is the largest export market of Vietnam. The two-way trade revenue increased from US$7.7 billion in 2005 to US$12 billion in 2007 and US$12.5 billion in 2008. In the first six months of 2009, the bilateral trade turnover was estimated at US$6.2 billion. The US investment capital into Vietnam has reached nearly US$5 billion. In the coming time, several high-value projects will be signed by the two countries.
At present, Vietnam is one of the fast-growing importers of US goods and the US is now one of the five largest investors in Vietnam. This trade boom is attributed to strong economic growth of Vietnam as well as the continuous supply of equipment, materials, technologies and administration skills by US companies to developing industrial bases of Vietnam.
According to the statistics of the US Department of Customs, Vietnam earned US$462.7 million from woodwork exports to the US in the first six months of 2009, only down 0.5 per cent from the same period in 2008. The Southeast Asian nation exported US$2.16 billion worth of apparels and textiles to the world’s largest economy in the six-month period. The US remained the largest importer of Vietnamese garments and textiles. The US spent US$380.03 million on Vietnamese seafood from January to June, up 11.36 per cent year on year. The US imported US$7.2 billion worth of footwear in the January - June period, including US$536 million from Vietnam. Currently, Vietnam holds 8.23 per cent of US spending on footwear imports.
Vietnam’s dynamic economic development, political stability and security, Vietnam’s official joining to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the US granting of permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) to Vietnam, and Vietnam’s hosting of the APEC Summit 14 (2006) heightened the position and prestige of Vietnam in the world and made the Vietnamese market more attractive in the eyes of international investors, including Americans. The economic - commercial ties have helped strengthen other fields of cooperation such as science, education, health, HIV/AIDS prevention, humanity, culture, anti-terrorism, anti-transnational criminals and global issue solving.
Promoting bilateral ties
Leaders of the two countries give priority to heightening bilateral ties. On the occasion the APEC Ministers for Trade Meeting 2009 to be held in Singapore, Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang and US Trade Representative Ronald Kirk held an annual ministerial meeting of the Vietnam-US Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Council. The meeting focused on discussing two-way trade issues and exchanged matters of US concerns in international trade in the coming time. The two officials expressed their satisfaction with results in the Vietnam-US Trade and Investment Framework Agreement and reached a consensus on the need to share more information and promote an “early warning” mechanism to deal with trade disputes. The two sides agreed to foster cooperation in the fields of agriculture, trade, intellectual property protection and environmental conservation. Mr Ronald Kirk said he hoped the two countries would accelerate the negotiation of their Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) in a bid to entice more US firms to do business in Vietnam. He affirmed that the US government would work closely with Vietnam to cope with trade barriers and open the US market wider to Vietnamese products amid APEC negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnerships Agreement (TPP).
Despite the economic and financial crisis, the Vietnam - US trade revenue is expected to increase in 2009. The US will continue investing in large projects in Vietnam and the world’s largest economy still sees Vietnam as an important trade partner in Southeast Asia.
Dai Ngoc
Vietnamese
