Seven APEC members -- the US, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, and Singapore -- are among Vietnam’s top 10 export markets. Vietnam’s footwear exports to the US in the first nine months were up 13.7 per cent compared to the same period last year and accounted for 12 per cent of the total value of Vietnamese goods to the US. Textile and garment exports were up 9.5 per cent compared to the same period last year and accounted for nearly 30 per cent of the total export value to the US.

The US is the largest market for Vietnamese textile and apparel imports. In 2016, the export turnover of this commodity group to the US was up 4.6 per cent against 2015, making up 48 per cent of the total textile and garment export turnover of the whole country. As Vietnam’s traditional seafood export markets are increasingly demanding, the Korean market appears to be more open to Vietnamese exporters.

Over the first eight months of this year, the export value of aquatic and fishery products to the Republic of Korea increased by 27 per cent compared to the same period last year. Trade liberalisation and trade facilitation in the APEC have opened up great opportunities for the business community in Vietnam, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises.