Talking about business prospects in Vietnam, Vu Tu Thanh, USABC’s Deputy Regional Managing Director & Representative, said US businesses are seeking Vietnamese partners in the fields of technology, manufacturing, retail, consumer goods, medical equipment, electricity and supporting industries.

Vu Tu Thanh, USABC’s Deputy Regional Managing Director & Representative

“These are the business fields with great potential which fit Vietnamese enterprises’ production capacity,” Thanh said.

He said the opportunity is great if noting that the shortfall in China’s exports to the US has been redirected to other countries, including Vietnam.

Thanh cited US statistics as reporting that Chinese exports to the US in 2019 decreased by $90 billion in comparison with 2018. Of this, $31 billion shifted to Asian countries, $23 billion to Mexico and $23 billion to the EU.

Of the $31 billion worth of exports to Asian countries, $14 billion, or 46 percent, went to Vietnam.

The epidemic has made US businesses realize that they need to choose production locations which not only allow them to optimize production costs, but also have the capability to resist shocks and risks.

The figure is expected to create a positive effect on decisions by American investors to expand their production and business to non-China markets.

With its great achievements in containing Covid-19, Vietnam has emerged as the preferred destination for US businesses.

US businesses in China are choosing other markets for expansion to both continue to exploit the vast Chinese market and minimize risks by ‘not putting all of their eggs into the same basket’.

In addition to making products for export back to the US and EU, the businesses also target the Chinese domestic market with 1.4 billion consumers. No investor will give up such a lucrative market like China.

The USABC recently has given consultancy to many US businesses on how to expand investments and avoid the impact of the US-China trade war by investing in other markets such as Vietnam, India and Indonesia.

The trend of expanding production to non-China markets arose in 2014 and became stronger in 2018 when the US-China trade war broke out. The process was accelerated after Covid-19 broke out in China.

The epidemic has made US businesses realize that they need to choose production locations which not only allow them to optimize production costs, but also have the capability to resist shocks and risks.

Therefore, China is no longer an ideal location in the eyes of US businesses to develop a sustainable business model. And this brings opportunities to Vietnam, though there is much that needs to be done by Vietnam to attract US investors.

Kim Chi 

Vietnam's FDI inflows to increase

A new wave of foreign direct investment driven by global uncertainty such as the US-China trade war and the COVID-19 pandemic is imminent in Vietnam, 

EVFTA, plus Vietnam's COVID-19 success, to help attract more FDI: experts

The country's great achievement of containing the spread of COVID-19, plus the EVFTA (EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement), will help Vietnam attract more FDI.