Economic access to the US has changed a lot after 27 years

Meeting with US businesses and experts recently, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh showed that the Vietnamese Government focuses a lot on the fields of energy, digital economy and finance.

Speaking at the American Institute for International Strategic Studies (CSIS) on the afternoon of May 11, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh Green growth, technological innovation, digital transformation and supply chain diversification are three important areas with great potential for cooperation between the two countries.

During his recent visit to the US, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh spent a lot of time with businesses in these priority areas. In the field of high technology, he has met businesses such as Intel, Apple, Google; in the financial industry are organizations and funds such as Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Visa, Warburg Pincus; As for the energy sector, there are corporations Blackstone, GenX, AES…

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s intention is to mobilize financial and technological resources from international organizations and US investors, especially high-tech enterprises to help Vietnam’s economy recover. “, Dr. Le Hong Hiep, senior research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) commented.

Meanwhile, Dr. Tran Toan Thang of the National Center for Socio-Economic Information and Forecasting said that the Prime Minister’s trip is helping Vietnam find new opportunities to change the structure of trade.

“Vietnam is in need of attracting high-tech investment flows, developing financial markets or other issues besides agriculture and fishery, textiles or timber,” he said. Traditional goods, which are the advantages of Vietnam, are gradually facing big warnings about the import and export deficit with the US.

Since the normalization of relations in 1995, trade turnover Vietnam – US has increased 248 times after 27 years.

The data of the OEC website shows that there has been a significant change in the structure of import and export of Vietnamese and American goods. If in the first years of doing business, for example, in 1995, most of Vietnam exported agricultural products (the value of exported coffee was 140 million USD of the total 194 million USD of exports), seafood (about 19 million USD). .62 million USD), textiles and garments (about 18.3 million USD),… by 2020, the main goods and goods to be exported are broadcasting equipment (14.3 billion USD), furniture (5, $37 billion), semiconductor devices ($3.12 billion).

Imports in the US also changed, from fertilizers, vehicles, and machinery, now focusing on input materials for production such as microchips, cotton, and animal feed.

Vietnam, from a country that emerged thanks to the success of labor-intensive goods, is gradually gaining popularity with the electronics and higher-tech manufacturing industry, attracting large investments from Samsung and Intel. … From 4-5 years ago, when the US-China tension broke out, this was shown even more clearly.

Up to now, Vietnam is considered to have taken advantage of its advantages in the trade war between the two superpowers. Wall Street Journal According to calculations of Kearney company, in 2021, goods exported from Vietnam to the US increased by 50 billion USD compared to 2018 – the time the war broke out. During the same period, Chinese goods exported to the United States were less than $50 billion.

Moody’s Analytics also said that 46% of goods brought to the US by Vietnam are machinery, a three-fold increase in percentage compared to before the trade war. Textiles and garments have increased but at a slower rate.

According to Mr. Le Hong Hiep, Vietnam is now a major manufacturing hub outside of China. Technology corporations over the years have actively diversified their supply chains to avoid risks from these conflicts as well as being too dependent on what is considered the world’s factory. In fact, Samsung, Apple and many other corporations have set up large production and assembly facilities in Vietnam over the years.

On the other hand, Vietnam also had two years of economic resilience better than most countries in the world during Covid-19. In 2020 and 2021, despite difficulties, Vietnam still has economic growth, at 2.91% and 2.58%. Inflation so far, although assessed as having many risks, is still under the control of the operator. Vietnam is still considered a safe destination, attracting global FDI inflows.

“As Vietnam’s position and importance in the global supply chain increase, its political position and leverage in negotiations have also been enhanced,” said Hiep.

In the opposite direction, the US side also wants to promote cooperation with Vietnam in new aspects, besides traditional business relationships. At the Vietnam – US Summit held in Hanoi in March, Ms. Marisa Lago, Deputy Secretary of Commerce in charge of US international trade, once said that health, digital trade, energy and climate change will are 3 priority areas for cooperation with Vietnam in 2022.

Accordingly, during a meeting with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in the US recently, the country’s special envoy on climate John Kerry said that many US and global businesses are ready to join the effort to transform energy. in Viet Nam.

In addition, the digital economy is also considered as a potential field for cooperation between the two countries.

“The advantage between Vietnam and the US in this field is complementing each other, not directly competing, not creating confrontation,” said Nguyen Quang Dong, director of the IPS Media Development and Policy Research Institute. , comment with VnExpress. American enterprises are strong in platforms (for example, social networks, data infrastructure…), while Vietnamese enterprises are strong in developing applications on those platforms.

This is different from traditional products such as agricultural products, industrial production may face lawsuits about anti-dumping violations, origin, suspected effects on American workers and workers in Vietnam. certain professions. In the past period, the trade deficit between Vietnam and the US has tripled to 90 billion USD has become a matter of concern for both sides, finding solutions to narrow the gap.

“Vietnam benefits from technology, the US market and vice versa, American businesses also want to pull closer to Vietnam to Silicon Valley,” said Mr. Dong. Accordingly, the Vietnamese market is definitely a place with many potentials and opportunities for Americans in new commercial and service areas, instead of just traditional and simple goods like in the early days of doing business.

Phuong Anh