 |
| Under the BTA, the United
States has become Vietnam's most important textile
market. |
| Courtesy VINATEX |
Trade and investment have grown significantly after
the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) entered into
force in December 2001, both parties agree. But
especially the Vietnamese side says more work is
required to assure that the early successes do not
come undone.
Vice Prime Minister Vu Khoan, who as Trade Minister
signed the BTA for Vietnam, says he is “very
satisfied” with the first year, which saw Vietnamese
exports to the United States skyrocket by 129% over
2001 to more than $2.4 billion, while imports from
the United States increased by 26% to $580 million.
But the vice premier also expressed concern about
new barriers put up by the United States.
The boom was led by Vietnamese exports in oil, textiles,
aquatic products and coffee. But textiles and seafood
are the subjects of heated debates between the two
governments. The United States has threatened to impose
a unilateral textile quota and has acted repeatedly
to prevent Vietnamese seafood from entering the country
(see below).
Total textile shipments from Vietnam will be set at
$1.7 billion under a negotiated quota which avoided
unilateral action, but on the seafood front, things
seem to get worse, and as the Vietnamese – and
a number of Americans as well – see it, for no
other reason than American protectionism.
But those in the trenches of the trade battles see
an overall positive picture: “The result of the
BTA is a doubling of two-way trade in such a short
time,” says Adam Sitkoff, the executive director
of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hanoi. He says
that while the annoyance with U.S. legislation is
understandable, it would be a mistake to forget the
bigger picture. Vietnam has benefited handsomely from
the BTA.
In the end, without a BTA, the question whether $1.7
billion of Vietnamese textiles is good enough would
not even pose itself, and Vietnamese companies recognize
that fact.
On the other side, says Sitkoff, “as Vietnam
sells more to the United States and living standards
rise as a result, the Vietnamese will buy more. Especially
American service providers will do well in the future.
Financial services, insurance and consulting are fields
in which the United States has very competitive companies.
… In the present situation [of Vietnam’s
development], they can focus on what they are
good at: increase efficiency and
productivity.”
While trade is generally considered to be doing well,
Vietnamese political leaders have voiced disappointment
with the level of U.S. investment under the BTA.
Some, so Sitkoff, are indeed still a little weary
of the business climate. On the other hand, while
direct U.S. investment may not be soaring just yet,
many Asian companies producing for the U.S. market
have set up shop in Vietnam since the BTA was signed,
and in some cases already beforehand in
anticipation of the accord.
Business parks feel this sentiment of BTA anticipation
especially well. “Americans and Japanese take
a long-term view,” says Bui Manh Lan, the general
director of the Dong An industrial park. “Taiwanese
often come and sign up within hours. This is why they
often come first, and why so many Vietnamese industrial
parks have so many Vietnamese and also Korean companies.”
But he thinks that as these companies, many of which
produce for the North American market, share their
positive experiences with their business partners,
Americans will come in greater numbers as well.
But overall, says Virginia Foote, who heads the U.S.-Vietnam
Trade Council, a membership organization comprised
of U.S. companies with interest in Vietnam, things
are already working out for investors. The notion
that time is money, that a decision not made will
cost – in terms of money and burn-out –
is not developed enough in Vietnamese thinking yet.
But interestingly, says Foote, most of the complaints
today come from the U.S. government, not U.S. companies.
Essentially, says an expatriate manager of an American
company based in Ho Chi Minh City, it's hard to work
with the U.S. government. “Dealing with the United
States requires knowledge, experience, skills and
money. It requires good representation, lots of lobbying,
and the hiring of lawyers. … Vietnam needs a
strong speaker. Right now, decisions here are made
by consensus, and that takes too much time and waters
positions down too much to be effective in Washington.”
But she believes in the spirit of the Vietnamese people.
“There are a number of American NGOs doing admirable
work in Vietnam. But to help a country, you need to
allow its peoples to stand on their own feet. Americans
can help much more by opening their markets to Vietnam
than by donating things.” |
