Speaking at the forum, Standing Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City Le Thanh Liem informed that the United States is the second largest export market of Ho Chi Minh City accounting for nearly 18 percent of the city’s total export turnover.
Since the Vietnam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) began to take effect in 2001, bilateral trade between the two states has grown by 12- 16 percent every year. In the first 11 months of 2020, the bilateral trade turnover between HCMC and US businesses reached US$ 8.4 billion.
From the beginning of the year to now, the bilateral trade turnover of the two countries has reached US$65.1 billion, up 17.7 percent over the same period in 2019. In which, export turnover hit US$54.7 billion and import turnover gained US$10.4 billion.
As for direct investment capital flows, the partner currently ranks 11th out of 138 countries and territories having foreign direct investment in Vietnam with 1,063 projects and a total registered capital of US$9.4 billion.
At the forum, the enterprises first discussed and assessed economic, trade and investment relations of both sides, sought opportunities and prospects for bilateral economic cooperation in the context of global trade conflict, the impact of Covid-19 pandemic, shifts in global supply chains and Vietnam's policies to attract high-quality foreign direct investments. Besides that, they also recommend solutions and orientations for businesses to step by step locate and develop effectively their business strategies.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, vegetables and fruits, foodstuffs, devices, industrial and consumer goods are the four commodity groups to potentially increase the ability of exporting to the US market in the upcoming time.
Along with the opportunities of expanding export market share to the US, the Vietnamese enterprises will also face technical and commercial barriers. Therefore, they need to actively convert production, renew their distribution channels and promote product advertisement through applications of information technology.
The enterprises expected that the Government and the business community of the two countries would coordinate for timely and effective settlement of priority trade issues, including opening markets for agricultural and industrial products, information technology commodities and services, creating a favorable investment and business environment, pushing up the signing of large commercial projects and contracts.
Currently, the city is implementing three big projects including smart city, interactive and innovative urban area to the East of Ho Chi Minh City and international financial center; therefore, the city hopes that US firms will speed up cooperation and investment to implent the above projects. In addtion, US businesses are expected to help the city materialize its virsion and turn into a regional medical center.
The Vietnam - US Trade Forum 2020 was held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City and the ASEAN - US Business Council (USABC).
