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Experts argue for boosting e-trading with US
Chief of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry is pushing local businesses to boost e-trading with the United States as an effective measure to address proximity and transaction costs.
Vu Tien Loc told enterprises at a workshop in Hanoi on April 2 that e-trading with the world’s largest economy is top priority, and “more important than other markets.”
“Furthermore, e-trading is popular in most developed economies,” said the senior economist, while explaining the importance of hi-tech transactions and trade.
His perspective is shared by the Head of the American Continent Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Nguyen Duy Khien. He emphasised the potential, diversity, and high-demand of the US market as a reason to boost IT in doing business with the country.
Khien said he expects that more opportunities will soon arise for Vietnamese exporters to the US , rather than other giants such as Japan and the EU. He explained that as Vietnam’s prestige is on the rise, US enterprises are more likely to sign contracts in the Southeast Asian market.
The United States already accounts for 20 percent of Vietnam’s export revenues as Vietnam’s largest export market, he added.
The signing of the Vietnam-US Trade Agreement (BTA) has led to a surge in two-way trade revenues, registering an annual growth rate of 20 percent on average.
Vietnam’s export revenues to the US reached 12.5 billion USD in 2008, and continued to increase in the early part of this year, despite the global economic downturn and a sharp decrease in consumer sentiment around the world.
Vietnam also saw its largest trade surplus with the US. However, it has yet to fully tap its potential, as it only accounts for 0.4 percent of total US imports.
Garments and textiles, wooden furniture and footwear are Vietnam’s major exports to the US.
The workshop was part of a project co-sponsored by the Enterprise IT Institute, and the OSB Investment and Technology Joint-stock Company, a US distributor of services in Vietnam, to help boost implementation of commercial IT in the 2005-2010 period.
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