Vietnam a potential market in US businesses' eye: ambassador

Hanoi (VNA) – US businesses assess Vietnam as a potential market with a strategic location in the region, COVID-19 pandemic brought under control, a stable business environment, and an extensive network of free trade agreements (FTAs), Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Nguyen Quoc Dung has said.

In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency, he said the sectors that US businesses hope to invest in and cooperate with Vietnam include high technology, energy, agriculture, healthcare/pharmaceutical, finance, aviation, and tourism. Notably, there are an increasing number of Vietnamese enterprises wishing to expand investment and business activities in the US.

Pointing out difficulties and challenges to economic diplomacy, he said the US is currently the biggest importer of Vietnamese products, with exports to this market this year expected to exceed the nearly 100 billion USD in 2021. However, the two countries need to have a more effective framework for managing trade ties so as to minimise trade remedy investigations.

To grasp opportunities of economic cooperation with the US, Dung recommended that Vietnam should develop the key exports to the US, create more favourable conditions for US products to enter Vietnam, make use of the US’s assistance for the realisation of the COP26 commitments, while maintaining dialogue and paying attention to US businesses’ proposals.

Enterprises and localities of Vietnam should learn more about strict requirements of the US, adapt their product marketing plans to consumer tastes in the US, capitalise on the Vietnamese community there and hire consultancies to devise suitable market strategies, cooperate with US authorities in trade remedy investigations, and steer clear of violating rules of origin or US sanctions, the ambassador suggested.

The Vietnamese Embassy in the US has worked to maintain and boost relations with the US administration, congress, and businesses, while meeting and persuading relevant parties in order to secure objective conclusions and protect Vietnam’s interests in monetary policy, product origin, and anti-dumping probes.

It has also organised or assisted delegations from Vietnam to hold business forums and investment and trade promotion events, he added.

The diplomat opined that there are certain advantages for bilateral economic cooperation, including Vietnamese and US leaders, localities and businesses’ attention to economic ties, Vietnam’s strength and stature, the FTAs that the Southeast Asian nation has joined, and the country’s opportunities to attract foreign investment.

Dung pointed out the need to step up all-level mutual visits and exchanges between enterprises of the two countries; invest more in studying, forecasting, and warning since the US and global economies are facing complex changes that may adversely affect Vietnam; and further update Vietnamese localities and businesses about regulations, standards, and consumer tastes in the US market.

He added that his embassy will continue helping Vietnamese firms solve obstacles and difficulties, form a stable trade cooperation mechanism, and reduce trade remedies by the US./.