US firms finding opportunities to set up goods purchasing centers in Vietnam: Deputy Minister

Many U.S. firms and distribution channels are increasing their purchases of goods and looking at the prospect of establishing channels and purchasing centers in Vietnam when the export turnover of Vietnamese goods to the U.S. starts to show signs of improvement in the rest of 2023, said Vietnam's Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai.

The deputy prime minister made the statement at the 2023 Vietnam-U.S. Trade Forum on Tuesday in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), organized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in coordination with the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam.

Hai affirmed that Vietnam’s General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and U.S. President Joe Biden officially announced the upgrade of relations to the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership on September 11, creating a solid foundation for businesses from both countries to operate more effectively. Cooperation between the two countries has deepened on all strategic pillars, with economic-trade-investment remaining the driving force in boosting relations between the two nations.

Susan Burns, U.S. Consul General in HCMC, affirmed that the close connection between the two economies plays an important role in the resilience of the global supply chain and common prosperity throughout the region. She expressed her hope that bilateral relations between the two countries will increasingly achieve more practical and effective results, bringing benefits to the communities and businesses of the two nations.

"The U.S. has identified Vietnam as an important pillar in its economy. Elevating the strategic relationship between Vietnam and the U.S. has been bringing opportunities for economic development between the two countries. Vietnam has opportunities to attract direct investment from U.S. businesses, focusing on the semiconductor and mining sectors," said Burns.

Vu Duc Giang, chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas), said that in 2023, the maximum export revenue of the textile and garment industry will reach about $40 billion in comparison with $37.5 billion in 2022. The U.S. is still the number one market for Vietnam's textile and garment exports, with three million workers and 4,000 garment enterprises of all kinds.

Giang commented that in the first three quarters of the year, textile export growth slowed down. However, with global commodity inventories decreasing, in the fourth quarter there have been signs of positive growth. Citing an example from the famous brand Nike, the number of orders in the third quarter decreased sharply, but in the fourth quarter it is growing quickly.

However, according to Giang, the textile and garment industry is currently facing many challenges in terms of export growth. Specifically, textile and garment enterprises are currently under great pressure on tariff policies for on-site exports.

In the first eight months of the year, Vietnam was the 10th largest trading partner of the U.S., with a total import-export turnover of about $90.8 billion, accounting for 2.4% of the total import-export turnover of the U.S. Of which, Vietnam's export turnover to the U.S. reached $83.7 billion, accounting for 3.6% of the latter's total import revenue.