Washington D.C. (VNA) – Vietnam is seeing greatopportunities in the US market, said Commercial Counsellor in the US Do NgocHung who showed optimism about Vietnam-US trade prospects.

Hung noted that amid COVID-19 impacts and the interruption ofglobal supply chains, trade between Vietnam and the US has still grown. In thefirst nine months of this year, two-way trade rose 20% year on year to 96.2billion USD, including 85.1 billion USD worth of Vietnam’s exports, accountingfor 30% of the Southeast Asian country's total export revenue in the period.

The US is currently the largest export market of Vietnam,while Vietnam is the fifth largest trade partner of the US, accounting for about4% of the US's total import turnover.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade said t if the growth ratein the last nine months is maintained, Vietnam's import-export turnover mayreach over 740 billion USD in 2022.

Hung said that Vietnam’s advantages in the US include theenhancement of the Vietnam-US comprehensive partnership and visits by seniorleaders of the two nations, which have laid firm foundation for bilateraleconomic and trade ties.

At the same time, the effective implementation of the Vietnam-USTrade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) has helped deal with many toughproblems in economic and trade relations.

In addition, the trade and geopolitical conflicts as well asthe inflation situation will help Vietnamese goods increase their marketshares, occupying the vacancy of Russian and Chinese products in the US. In thecurrent context, the trend of shifting supply chains has given Vietnamopportunities to expand production activities and participate more deeply inthe global value chains, Hung stated.

However, he stressed that these favourable factors are onlymomentary, while legal and technical barriers to trade are also significantdifficulties for Vietnamese enterprises in the US market.

In order to make full use of the advantages and opportunitiesand develop sustainably, enterprises must actively enhance theircompetitiveness and improve technologies as well as labour productivity, whileactively joining regional and global production and supply chains, and fullyenforcing regulations of US authorities, avoid violating regulations oninvestment, labour, environment and goods origin, he advised.

He said that the Vietnam Trade Office in the US will continueto work hard to protect the interests of Vietnamese businesses and remove difficultiesfacing exporting activities, while continuing to coordinate with the US side inanti-dumping issues.

Meanwhile, the office will focus on updating domestic firmsabout the US's policies, providing information about the US market's demands,connecting investment partnership in industry, seeking more material supplysources for domestic production, and attracting more investment in stages ofproduction and supply of materials and equipment for the development of theenergy industry, especially renewable energy, he said.

Hung said that in the coming time, the office will coordinatewith relevant agencies to organise a Vietnam-US trade forum in Ho Chi Minh Cityin November. It will join hands with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce andIndustry (VCCI) to arrange a trip for about 40 businesses to exploreopportunities in the US market in later November, he added./.