Socialist Republic of Vietnam

US Under-Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Francisco Sanchez expressed his optimism that Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiation will be concluded by the end of this year.

(VNA) Vietnam ’s exports to the US in the first seven months of this year earned more than 9.63 billion USD, a surge of 20.7 percent against the same period last year, according to the US International Trade Commission.

Among Vietnam ’s export items to the US , garments and textiles took the lead with 3.64 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 18 percent, followed by footwear with nearly 1.15 billion USD, up 24.5 percent, and wood products with 998.5 million USD, up 4 percent.

(VNA) Vietnam attained a GDP growth of 5.6 percent in the first half of the year, reported the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

In the reviewed period, the country; industrial production value was 418 trillion VND, a year-on-year rise of 14.3 percent and export revenues of 42.3 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 30 percent.

High growth in six-month export revenues were seen in apparels, up 28.4 percent; footwear, up 31 percent; seafood, up 28 percent; and rubber, up 17 percent.

(VNA)Total export revenue for the first six months of the year reached 41.5 billion USD, up 27.8 percent against the same period last year, the Ministry of Planning and Investment said in a report submitted to the National Assembly's Economic Committee on June 21.

The increase nearly tripled the target of 10 percent set earlier this year by the National Assembly (NA), the ministry stated in its report.

Export turnover of many products also increased sharply. Rubber topped the list with the growth rate of nearly 96 percent.

(This article appeared in The Hill, Oct, 2010)

At his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama declared his trade policy goal: a doubling of American exports over the next five years. He received  bipartisan  applause.  Now, in campaign season, trade  gets  a decidedly  less  enthusiastic treatment. Republican and Democratic candidates alike decry job losses going along with more international trade.

(This article appeared in The Hill, Nov, 2010)

The World Bank’s annual ranking of countries’ business climate has Vietnam among the top reformers in the past 12 months, climbing 10 ranks. Even more impressive, in Doing Business 2011, Vietnam beats out not only foreign investment magnet China, but also Italy, one of the world’s seven most industrialized nations.

(VNA) Vietnam’s export turnover in the first five months of this year reached more than 34.7 billion USD, representing a year-on-year rise of 32.8 percent, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said on May 26.

During this period, garment exports topped the list of hard currency earners with over 5.1 billion USD, a rise of 35.6 percent year-on-year. The United States remained Vietnam’s largest importer, followed by the European Union and Japan.

(VNA) Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. has announced it would invest 95 million USD to acquire a 26 percent stake in a resort development project in Vietnam where it would build a hotel-casino.

Pinnacle's May 26 statement wrote, the Ho Tram Strip project, being developed by a Canadian company, Asian Coast Development, is beachfront complex of destination resorts and residential developments in southern Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, approximately 80 miles southeast of Ho Chi Minh City.

(VNA) During the last two decades, Vietnamese investors have initiated 370 overseas projects worth 5.1 billion USD, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Agency.
Most of the projects are in industry, construction, agro-forestry and fisheries, oil exploration and services.
Industrial and construction sectors account for 155 projects with total Investment capital of 4.2 billion USD.
Laos leads 48 countries and territories in attracting Vietnamese investors, followed by Malaysia , Algeria and Cambodia .

(VNA) The Ministry of Industry and Trade expects exports to the US market to climb slightly to 12.7 billion USD this year from 12 billion USD in 2008.
This estimate is based on four consecutive months of growth in export revenues to the world’s largest economy, said the ministry.
Garments, wood and wooden furniture, electronics and components are major hard currency earners. In regard to garments alone, the industry earned 2.2 billion USD from exports to the US market in the first half of this year, representing 55 percent of its total export revenues over the period.