Hanoi (VNA) - Since the normalisation of bilateral relations in 1995, economic and trade ties between Vietnam and the US have seengreat progress, with two-way trade hitting an all-time high of 90.8 billion USDin 2020, up 19.8 percent year-on-year, despite serious impacts of the COVID-19pandemic.

US Vice President Kamala Harris’s ongoing visit to Vietnamis expected to open up new business and investment opportunities for the twocountries’ enterprises.

According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), since theVietnam - US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) took effect in December 2001, two-waytrade has continuously increased.

Bilateral trade was maintained in the first seven months of 2021 as the UScontinued to be Vietnam's largest importer with a turnover of 53.7 billion USD,up 37.7 percent year-on-year.

Vietnam mainly shipped machinery, equipment, tools and spareparts to the US. Therefore, despite being affected by the pandemic, the  country's revenuefrom exporting these items to the US still reached 12.2 billion USD last year, up141.5 percent compared to 2019. In the 2016-2020 period, exports of theseproducts to this market enjoyed an annual average growth rate of 54.8 percent.

According to insiders, this confirms that Vietnam has becomean important link in the supply chains of many products to many markets,including the US.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said thatthe Vietnamese and US economies are complementary. In the coming time, Vietnam willcontinue speeding up its economic reform and international integration, and strengthenmutually-beneficial economic, trade and investment cooperation with the US.

According to the Deputy Minister, the value of imports from the US in thecoming time will increase through the improvement of Vietnam’s businessenvironment, thereby attracting more enterprises to Vietnam.

The US’s becoming Vietnam's largest export market isconsidered a positive signal. However, the Vietnam Trade Office in the USrecommended Vietnam to be careful about anti-fraud and trade protection issues.

Phan Mai Quynh from the MoIT's Vietnam Trade Remedies Authoritysaid that in order to avoid risks, businesses should actively answer questionsfrom the investigation agency, and fully prepare documents as required, and buildan advanced governance system.

To support businesses in boosting exports to this market, Vietnamwill continue cooperating with US partners to comprehensively address the US'sconcerns.

The MoIT is working on bigprojects to enhance the competitiveness of export products, Haisaid, adding that businesses must actively develop their markets to improvetheir domestic production capacity and integrate deeper into the global supplychains./.