By Han Qiao
Vietnam, depending on the U.S. and European Union (EU) markets for more than one third of its export, is beginning to tap more potential markets in the wake of the U.S. financial crisis and possible economic downturn in the United States and some European countries.
The export turnover of Vietnam is expected to reach 65 billion U.S. dollars this year, a leap of 33.9 percent over 2007 and the biggest increase in the past decade, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung told a National Assembly session this week.
The impressive figure, on one hand, was thanks to rising international prices, especially in the first seven months of this year, of Vietnam's major export items, like crude oil, coal, rice and coffee, said experts in Hanoi. On the other hand, it was an achievement of the Vietnamese government's huge efforts to boost exports.
But experts also warned that some Vietnamese export items, like coffee and garments, were depending too much on the U.S. and EU market, and it is likely to be hurt badly if no changes on export strategy is made.
Figures from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam showed that in the first nine months this year, the United States remained the biggest export market for Vietnam.
Export value to the U.S. market stood at 8.5 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 17.4 percent of the total. It was followed by export to the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) with 17.2 percent, EU 16 percent, Australia 7.2 percent, and China 6.7 percent.
However, exports to the United States and EU have already showed signs of slower growth compared with other markets during this period. Export to the ASEAN, Australia and China surged by 42 percent, 67 percent and 43 percent respectively year-on-year in the first three quarters, while exports to the U.S. and EU up only 17 percent and 21 percent.
Some Vietnamese garment companies have begun to complain that their partners in the United States have cut orders in recent contract negotiations. The Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association reported that key importers like Germany, Italy and the United States bought less coffee in the last few months.
In the new global context, Vietnam needs to reach other new potential markets such as Russia, Africa and Middle East while maintaining and more deeply penetrating traditional ones, said Nguyen Thanh Bien, deputy minister of industry and trade of Vietnam at a recent conference on export.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said this week that more trade promotion activities should be conducted at government, trade union and enterprise levels to expand presence of Vietnamese goods in foreign markets.
Vietnam's trade mission abroad should support and cooperate with Vietnamese companies to boost export, said Dung.
Some of the trade promotion agencies in Vietnam have already started to act. Next Monday, a delegation of about 60 Nigerian businesspeople will arrive in Vietnam for a one-week visit to study business opportunities. They will cooperate with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry to hold trade and investment seminars in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Potential markets for Vietnamese exporting companies have been widely discussed in local media recently. In Friday's Vietnam Economic Times, there is a full-page story on Vietnam's advantage to tap the market in United Arab Emirates.
In Vietnamese Prime Minister's report to the fourth session of the 12th National Assembly that opened this week, he made a modest target of 18 percent growth for export in 2009. Experts believe this figure is achievable if right strategy and effective measures are implemented to boost export. |
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