US aims to boost bilateral trade

The US is taking steps to increase bilateral trade with Vietnam by adding 14 economic specialists to the US embassy and Consulate in the country, according to the assistant secretary for the US Commerce for Trade Promotion, Suresh Kumar.
Speaking at a media briefing in HCM City yesterday, Suresh Kumar told Vietnamese businesses to take advantage of their consultation to learn more about the US’s import requirements.

He noted that after a bilateral trade agreement between the two countries was signed in 2001, bilateral trade reached $2 billion.

But it rose to $18.6 billion in 2010, a growth of 20 per cent compared to 2009.

“Vietnam’s imports from the US grew at even a higher rate, but we can both do much more than that,” said Kumar. Kumar, who is also director general of the US and Foreign Commercial Service, said the American trade sector was carrying out a national trade initiative under the Obama administration that would increase US exports to several countries.

Under that initiative, Vietnam has been identified as a priority country for trade with the US. “US investment in Vietnam is around $4.7 billion, and more than 500 American companies are present in Vietnam,” he said.

In December, Kumar will lead a business delegation to Vietnam to seek investment opportunities in franchising, finance, green energy, infrastructure and healthcare.

Tags: Vietnam US Trade, Vietnam-US bilateral trade

Posted by VBN on Sep 22 2011. Filed under Import-Export. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry