Since the normalisation of relations 20 years ago, economicrelations between Vietnam and the US have developed strongly in manysectors, and are expected to grow even further in the future, especiallyafter the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is signed. The Vietnam NewsAgency talked to several experts about this issue.
* Hoang Anh Tuan, Director of the Institute for Foreign Policy and Strategic Studies, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Overthe last 20 years, relations between Vietnam and the US have grownrapidly in many areas. The ties between the two countries werenormalised in 1995, but at that time, it was initially in the diplomaticarena. Ties in other fields had not yet developed.
However, thepicture is different now. US officials have said that they have notseen economic ties with any country in the world develop as fast as theyhave with Vietnam in the last 15 years since they signed the bilateraltrade agreement (BTA).
Trade value between the two countries hasincreased from 850 million USD in 2000 to 40 billion USD in 2014. The USis the seventh largest investor in Vietnam.
The US economyimpacts other countries in the world, so when US investors go to anycountry, it means that that country is a safe and attractive place forinvestors from other countries.
But there is still greater potential for economic ties to grow, especially after the TPP agreement is signed.
TheTPP is expected to get done by this year end and have positive impactson trade and investment activities. Vietnam will have conditions toexpand its export markets and attract more investment from TPP membercountries, as also other countries in the world.
* Nguyen Dinh Luong, former head of the negotiating team on the Vietnam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement
Afterthe normalisation of relations between Vietnam and the US, economicties have grown well, prompting the Vietnamese economy to developfurther, partly due to growth in exports to the US. The local economyhas been restructured to suit the world economy and develop new economicsectors, especially the service sector, including telecom, finance,banking, land and air transport services.
Vietnam has built a modern legal system to regulate the market economy at home for integrating into the world economy.
Vietnam-UStrade and investment ties have developed especially strongly after theysigned the BTA. Vietnam has exported many products to the US, includinggarments, footwear, wood products and electronic items.
* Adam Sitkoff, Executive Director of American Chamber of Commerce Vietnam
Ifyou look back to 20 years ago, there was almost no trade and investmentbetween US and Vietnam. Under President Bill Clinton, the trade embargowas lifted, the relations were established, and the business started togrow, but it was still very small. The US and Vietnam signed thebilateral trade agreement in 2001, that's when business, trade andinvestment really took off.
So I think what we've seen in thepast two decades is explosive growth, and now in many ways, Vietnam isone of the largest exporters to the US, including clothing, and shoesand some food products and furniture and the opportunities are reallythere to do so much more.
And so, if you were an American personwalking around shopping before the end of 2001, you never saw anythingthat said "made in Vietnam." But now, I was just back in the US a weekago, and everywhere you go, there's Made in Vietnam, so the BTA has beena catalyst. 20 years ago or prior to the BTA, trade was only aroundhalf of billion dollars a year, and new we are assuming it'll be around40 billion USD.
I think a lot of American companies are reallyexcited about the opportunities that exist in Vietnam. There are 91million people here, and all the families want greater choice, higherquality, better pricing, they want better and more services, newer, moremodern things, so a lot of American companies can provide that, and asAmerican companies look to invest, look to do business in Vietnam, theysee opportunities but they also see some of the challenges.
AtAmcham, on behalf of our companies, we are constantly working with ourpartners in the Government to produce a business environment wheredecisions are made faster, where the laws are more evenly enforced, andwhere people play by a better set of rules, so that people feel morecomfortable to do business here.
The American economy is verylarge and its business community is very diverse. We see a lot ofopportunities in Vietnam. Some of the most exciting things are in whatwe consider to be the new economy. So, as an example, Vietnam Airlinesjust got a few new airplanes. An American company called Gogo Air put inwifi on those planes, so passengers can text messages to friends ontrips. We have companies like Uber that are changing how Vietnamese getaround town. We have lots of companies that are interested in technologyor agriculture.
The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) is veryimportant for both the US and Vietnam. It is a trade agreement among 12different countries so it is very hard to sit down and figure out allthe rules. Now we are in the fifth year of talking about it. We expectthe TPP to get done quickly, and we expect Vietnam to benefit more thanany country. But Vietnam can get the most benefits only if it plays theright type of game. It needs to take action now on some of the reformsthat are needed, to change some of the law, to clean up some of thesystems, to make State-owned enterprises behave like privateenterprises. Some of the things can be down now, because Vietnamesepeople do not want sit around and wait for trade agreements to maketheir lives better. They want action now to create the kind of wealthopportunities to let them live better.
TPP is going to open up alot of opportunities for a lot of people. It is going to show the restof the world that Vietnam is playing by a much higher standard than someof the neighbouring countries.-VNA
* Hoang Anh Tuan, Director of the Institute for Foreign Policy and Strategic Studies, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Overthe last 20 years, relations between Vietnam and the US have grownrapidly in many areas. The ties between the two countries werenormalised in 1995, but at that time, it was initially in the diplomaticarena. Ties in other fields had not yet developed.
However, thepicture is different now. US officials have said that they have notseen economic ties with any country in the world develop as fast as theyhave with Vietnam in the last 15 years since they signed the bilateraltrade agreement (BTA).
Trade value between the two countries hasincreased from 850 million USD in 2000 to 40 billion USD in 2014. The USis the seventh largest investor in Vietnam.
The US economyimpacts other countries in the world, so when US investors go to anycountry, it means that that country is a safe and attractive place forinvestors from other countries.
But there is still greater potential for economic ties to grow, especially after the TPP agreement is signed.
TheTPP is expected to get done by this year end and have positive impactson trade and investment activities. Vietnam will have conditions toexpand its export markets and attract more investment from TPP membercountries, as also other countries in the world.
* Nguyen Dinh Luong, former head of the negotiating team on the Vietnam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement
Afterthe normalisation of relations between Vietnam and the US, economicties have grown well, prompting the Vietnamese economy to developfurther, partly due to growth in exports to the US. The local economyhas been restructured to suit the world economy and develop new economicsectors, especially the service sector, including telecom, finance,banking, land and air transport services.
Vietnam has built a modern legal system to regulate the market economy at home for integrating into the world economy.
Vietnam-UStrade and investment ties have developed especially strongly after theysigned the BTA. Vietnam has exported many products to the US, includinggarments, footwear, wood products and electronic items.
* Adam Sitkoff, Executive Director of American Chamber of Commerce Vietnam
Ifyou look back to 20 years ago, there was almost no trade and investmentbetween US and Vietnam. Under President Bill Clinton, the trade embargowas lifted, the relations were established, and the business started togrow, but it was still very small. The US and Vietnam signed thebilateral trade agreement in 2001, that's when business, trade andinvestment really took off.
So I think what we've seen in thepast two decades is explosive growth, and now in many ways, Vietnam isone of the largest exporters to the US, including clothing, and shoesand some food products and furniture and the opportunities are reallythere to do so much more.
And so, if you were an American personwalking around shopping before the end of 2001, you never saw anythingthat said "made in Vietnam." But now, I was just back in the US a weekago, and everywhere you go, there's Made in Vietnam, so the BTA has beena catalyst. 20 years ago or prior to the BTA, trade was only aroundhalf of billion dollars a year, and new we are assuming it'll be around40 billion USD.
I think a lot of American companies are reallyexcited about the opportunities that exist in Vietnam. There are 91million people here, and all the families want greater choice, higherquality, better pricing, they want better and more services, newer, moremodern things, so a lot of American companies can provide that, and asAmerican companies look to invest, look to do business in Vietnam, theysee opportunities but they also see some of the challenges.
AtAmcham, on behalf of our companies, we are constantly working with ourpartners in the Government to produce a business environment wheredecisions are made faster, where the laws are more evenly enforced, andwhere people play by a better set of rules, so that people feel morecomfortable to do business here.
The American economy is verylarge and its business community is very diverse. We see a lot ofopportunities in Vietnam. Some of the most exciting things are in whatwe consider to be the new economy. So, as an example, Vietnam Airlinesjust got a few new airplanes. An American company called Gogo Air put inwifi on those planes, so passengers can text messages to friends ontrips. We have companies like Uber that are changing how Vietnamese getaround town. We have lots of companies that are interested in technologyor agriculture.
The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) is veryimportant for both the US and Vietnam. It is a trade agreement among 12different countries so it is very hard to sit down and figure out allthe rules. Now we are in the fifth year of talking about it. We expectthe TPP to get done quickly, and we expect Vietnam to benefit more thanany country. But Vietnam can get the most benefits only if it plays theright type of game. It needs to take action now on some of the reformsthat are needed, to change some of the law, to clean up some of thesystems, to make State-owned enterprises behave like privateenterprises. Some of the things can be down now, because Vietnamesepeople do not want sit around and wait for trade agreements to maketheir lives better. They want action now to create the kind of wealthopportunities to let them live better.
TPP is going to open up alot of opportunities for a lot of people. It is going to show the restof the world that Vietnam is playing by a much higher standard than someof the neighbouring countries.-VNA
