Forum discusses enhancing Vietnam-US bilateral trade links

Upon addressing the event, Ta Hoang Linh, director of the European - American Market Department, emphasized that bilateral trade relations between both sides have achieved a very impressive growth rate.

Vietnam has become the eighth largest trading partner of the US and is the fourth largest export market of the US in the ASEAN region, while the US represents the country’s second largest trading partner whilst being its largest export market.

Data compiled by the US Census Bureau indicates that total import-export turnover during the 10-month period reached approximately US$123.2 billion, up 19.3% compared to 2023.

Of the figure, Vietnamese exports and imports from the US reached US$112.7 billion and US$10.5 billion, respectively. Vietnam recorded a trade surplus of US$102.2 billion with the US and ranked third among countries, with the largest trade surplus with the US, after only China and Mexico.

Currently, strong export growth to the US were recorded through items such as wooden furniture, machinery, optical equipment, and medical measurement; office machines and printers, hand tools and hydraulic pneumatics, footwear; rubber and rubber products, plastics and plastic products as well as iron and steel.

Linh emphasized that the two nations have clearly identified 10 important and comprehensive pillars for co-operation moving forward.

He noted that the current task of the two sides is to realize the areas of potential collaboration in order to enhance the capacity for Vietnamese enterprises to participate more deeply in the global supply chain, especially in the spheres of raw materials, components, equipment for the energy industry, aviation, the digital economy, the semiconductor ecosystem, and artificial intelligence application.

For her part, Anne Benjaminson, acting consul general at the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, affirmed the close connectivity that exists between the two economies and the increasingly key role of Vietnam as part of global supply chains.

She went on to express her hope that the bilateral relations will reach a new level, becoming more substantive and effective for the common prosperity of both countries.

With a creative workforce, strategic location, and a dynamic network of trade relationship, the Vietnamese side represent an important partner for the US Government and business community, as well as being an essential link in terms of the global supply chain, she said. 

The US will seek to co-operate with the country to develop digital commerce in a bid to encourage more businesses to sell products online whilst accessing new markets and enhancing both technical skills training and human resource development through expanding public-private partnerships between the two sides, she added.

The US also plans to work alongside the nation to improve its energy planning and operation capacity, mobilize private investment in potential clean energy projects, and fund feasibility studies to develop essential power infrastructure, as well as introducing advanced technologies such as battery energy storage systems, she noted.