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Published on December 29, 2007

The Ministry of Industry and Trade said Vietnam's revenue from exports to the US had increased by 39 per cent this year to $10.2 billion.

Trade officials attributed 2007's growth rate to a spike in the export value of high-growth export items such as clothing, seafood, wood products and coffee.

To reach its target of $13.1 billion in exports to the US next year, Vietnam will still depend on those products, as well as footwear.

The garment sector currently takes up the lion's share of exports, |with a value of $4.4 billion. Next year, Vietnam's garment exports to the US are likely to reach $5.4 billion, a rise of 25.6 per cent.

The US is now Vietnam's biggest importer of garments, which account for 55 per cent of the country's total exports to the market.

However, the garment industry still faces challenges due to American policies monitoring Vietnamese garments until the end of next year.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Vietnam Association of Textile and Apparels have consistently opposed the inspection policy and proposed that the US ease the monitoring of Vietnamese garments to help local enterprises develop steadily.

Vietnam's footwear exports to the US have hit the $900-million mark this year, a 12-per-cent increase over last year. The footwear industry set the target of $1.1 billion in exports for 2008, a 22-per-cent increase. If that goal is reached, Vietnam will account for more than 5 per cent of total footwear imports by the US.

Vietnam is also planning to boost its exports of wood products to the US in the coming year as a result of cheap labour and high skill, industry insiders said.

The lumber processing and wood products industries aim to export $1.1 billion of their goods, a 23.6-per-cent upswing from this year.

The seafood industry hopes to continue tapping the US market next year with a 14.9-per-cent increase over 2007, bringing its export total to $850 million.

Vietnam's coffee industry anticipates shipping 125,000 tonnes of coffee to the US, with an export value of $200 million, the same as this year. The US is the world's biggest coffee importer.

New items such as shoulder bags, purses, suitcases, hats and umbrellas also promise another export windfall. Vietnam hopes to boost exports of these items by 31 per cent to $270 million next year.

The Nation