Vietnam- US Cooperation: Accomplishment and Prospect

It seems to be a time of great prospects in bilateral ties which have been amply proven from the sagacity of normalisation. The trade and investment ties have long served as the engine to propel relationship forward, with US economic engagement helping to spur Vietnam’s rapid transformation. In 2010, the US became Vietnam’s largest foreign investor, and two-way trade reached more than US$18 billion, of which, Vietnam's exports toped at US$14.2 billion and imports accounted for US$3.76 billion.  

 

Over 16 years, both countries have witnessed three most important periods or investment waves of the US in Vietnam. Concretely, the first wave came in the period from 1995 to 2000 when a lot of the US companies have been very successfull and expanding their business in Vietnam, including Coca Cola, Pepsi, Kimberly-Clark, Cargill, Procter & Gamble, Chevron, ConocoPhilips and ExxonMobil.

 

The second wave started after the Vietnam-US Bilateral Agreement took effect in December 2001. At that time, the US market became the big consumer of Vietnamese products, especially garment, footwear and interior products. And the third wave began in 2006, focused on high-tech manufacturing and services with Intel’s US$1 billion plant which opened in Ho Chi Minh City last year. More than 25 “Fortune 500” US companies visited the country this year to explore opportunities in the value-added manufacturing and service industries, including electronics, automobiles, and chemicals.

Besides, the negotiations of The United States with Vietnam and six other partners on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TTP) trade agreement have also been a milestone in both countries’ ties and created a high-standard, 21st  Century trade deal with strong and transparent labor, environmental, and intellectual property provisions that can provide a platform for region-wide economic integration. 

 

Cooperation in education is one of prior fields in bilateral ties as well as an important bridge between both countries’ societies. Thus, the two sides have already made great strides in this area. While fewer than 800 Vietnamese studied in the US 16 years ago, and now, that figure has grown to about 13,000.  

 

The Fulbright Economic Training Program (FETP), part of the US commiment to strengthen Vietnam’s education sector, for years offered a wonderfully innovative, intensive one-year economics programme and its success demonstrates that independent, US-run institutions of higher learning can flourish inside Vietnam. Since it resumed in the 1990s, 950 Vietnamese and American students and scholars have studied, conducted research, or taught in each other’s country in many academic fields.  Futhermore, the Vietnam Education Foundation, an independent federal agency created by the U.S. Congress with its mission is to strengthen the Vietnam – US bilateral relationship through educational exchanges in science and technology,  has placed 306 Graduate Fellows at 70 top U.S. universities. It has recently also launched  a new program to bring American professors to teach in Vietnam.

 

In addition, the visit of the US Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade to Vietnam with 56 representatives from the US’s universities, colleges and English-training institutes has a great significance to further enhance both sides’ cooperation in this sector.

 

Another area which can redouble and is considerably important in Vietnam – US cooperation relations is environment. Vietnam, with its hearvily-populated, low-lying areas, is among the top five countries which will be greatly affected by climate change in coming years and can face with the challenges of economic and food security consequences, therefore, the US cooperation with Vietnam in areas like data collection and dissemination, renewable energy, and clean coal technology to adapt to climate change, will take an crucial role in Vietnam’s sustainable development. which will be greatly affected by climate change in coming years and can face with the challenges of economic and food security consequences, therefore, the US cooperation with Vietnam in areas like data collection and dissemination, renewable energy, and clean coal technology to adapt to climate change, will take an crucial role in Vietnam’s sustainable development.

In 2009, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined with the foreign ministers of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam to create the Lower Mekong Initiative, as a way to enhance regional cooperation on the environment, health, and education. Last year, the two countries held the first meeting of Vietnam - US Climate Change Working Group, and later reached a preliminary agreement to expand civil nuclear power in a manner intended to maximize nuclear safety and security and minimize proliferation risk.  

 

Moreover, health diplomacy is another pillar of the two countries’ bilateral ties. Over the past three years, the U.S. has allocated US$6 million for dioxin mitigation with an additional US$3 million appropriated in financial year 2010.  It have jointly planned remediation of dioxin-contaminated soil at the DaNang airbase, where large amounts of Agent Orange were stored during the war.  In addition, the U.S. has provided more than US$46 million in aid for Vietnamese with disabilities, without regard to the cause of their disability.

 

It can be said that all U.S. official development assistance to Vietnam has been invested in health-related activities, accounting for about 75 percent of the total.  Furthermore, with its US$95 million to help Vietnam address the destroying effects of HIV/AIDS in just 2010 alone, and the total of HIV and influenza assistance to this country since 2004 and now exceeds US$440 million, the US has become Vietnam’s largest bilateral donor for combating pandemic and avian influenza.

 

While the cooperation between both sides has been deepen and broeaden in such areas, in 2010, many sectors were very attractive to US investors like hotel, acoommodation, service and especially real estate. The cooperation in security issues were unimaginable just five years ago. In 2009, the head of Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security made his first-ever visit to Washington as part of the gradual expansion of contacts between our national security bureaucracies. Particularly, at President Barack Obama’s nuclear security summit last April, and again this June in Hanoi, senior US officials have committed with Vietnamese counterparts on matters of nonproliferation, counterterrorism, humanitarian and disaster relief, and maritime security. 

 

As Vietnam has transformed itself, the country is increasingly playing a significant role on global and regional issues, serving on the UN Security Council last two years and, currently, as ASEAN’s chairman. In the mid- to long-term, the bilateral relations between Vietnam - US will build from strength to strength when ongoing trade and investment negotiations have the potential to open up even more opportunities for companies from both countries. Particularly, the United States is reengaging with Southeast Asia under the leadership of President Obama, and views Vietnam as an important pillar in its cooperation with the region and institutions like ASEAN and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).

 

On the other hand, the US has already proven itself to be the land of opportunity for many Vietnamese companies.  Just look at the growth in Vietnamese exports to the US over the last 10 years. The obvious advantage for Vietnamese companies in many sectors is the Vietnamese price advantage. In the face of Vietnam's exports to the US in May 1-2011, textile exports still have the highest turnover, reaching US$548.8 million (19.5 percent), footwear the second with a turnover of US$170.9 million (24 percent) over the same period last year and the third is furniture (US$158.6 million).

It is clearly seen that the cooperation relations between Vietnam – US have come a remarkably long way over 16 years with many achievements. Where there was once deep-seated mutual distrust, there is now an active partnership based on mutual goals, respect and cooperation.