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US business forum backs partnerships
| Machinery exports record highest growth
Viet Nam exported US$1.13 billion worth of goods to the US in the first month of this year, down 1.39 per cent on January last year, a US Department of Commerce report stated. The top five exports remained clothing, which grossed $471 million, down 1.26 per cent on the same month last year; footwear, $138 million, down 5.48 per cent; furniture and bedding, $138 million, up 3.76 per cent; agricultural products, $64 million, up 6.67 per cent; and sea food, $62 million, up 5.08 per cent.
Of the 15 key Vietnamese exports to the US, machinery recorded the highest yearly growth rate, grossing $51 million in value – an increase of 142.86 per cent against January last year.
US exports to Viet Nam were worth $248 million in January, an increase of 64.24 per cent over the same month last year. All but two of its 15 key exports to Viet Nam recorded yearly growth.
Two-way trade in the first month of this year stood at $1.381 billion, representing a 6.23 per cent year-on-year increase. | The Viet Nam – US Business Forum will open a new page in the two nations' relations and will facilitate new strategic business partnerships, said Vu Tien Loc, chairman of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
At the forum yesterday in Ha Noi, Vietnamese and US business leaders and officials from State agencies discussed specific challenges facing commerce.
Delegates were given information on markets and partnership and business opportunities in the US and Viet Nam.
"This year, top priority will be given to upgrading the Viet Nam – US e-commerce portal and organising visits by Vietnamese businesspeople to North America and vice versa," said Dang Thi Hoang Yen, the forum's chairwoman
Training courses to help Vietnamese firms improve their management capacities and effectively penetrate the US market would also be held, Yen said. Bilateral relations in trade and investment between Viet Nam and the US increased significantly in the past few years, said Nguyen Xuan Phuc, minister and chairman of the Government Office.
"The US is an important market for many Vietnamese exporters of items such as crude oil, textiles and garments, seafood, footwear and coffee," Phuc said, adding that last year, two-way trade topped US$14 billion, while Vietnamese exports were worth $11 billion.
Viet Nam has a favourable geographic location, a stable Government and an open investment environment, he said.
Up to last year, the US pumped $14.5 billion into 495 projects in Viet Nam, making it the sixth biggest investor in the country.
"These figures, however, failed to match the two countries' huge potential," Phuc concluded.
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