VOA慢速英语--Vietnam's Tech Company Says Free Trade Will Help Expansion

 

Vietnam’s largest technology company may profit from a free trade deal agreed to at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, meetings in Da Nang this month.

The new agreement replaces the Trans-Pacific Partnership¹, from which the United States withdrew in January.

Eleven countries meeting at APEC agreed to the new deal.

“On the basis of the results of four rounds of negotiations², Ministers…have agreed on some important contents, including an agreement of a new name for TPP with 11 members, the Comprehensive Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP),” said Tran Tuan Anh, Vietnam’s Trade Minister on Saturday.

The redesigned deal came after President Donald Trump³ took the United States, the world’s largest market, out of the TPP. Trump said he preferred bilateral⁴ agreements to large treaties.

Truong Gia Binh, chairman of Vietnam’s largest technology company FPT, spoke⁵ to VOA about protectionism as a barrier to free trade. He said he believes the U.S. will return to trade talks.

“I strongly believe at a certain point the U.S. will come back to discuss strong commitment to growth. And I think that’s going to be the way America goes as the leader in the world,” Binh said.

Vietnam hopes to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of free trade as it expands in the Pacific. Vietnam has rapidly growing exports, including technology.

FPT is growing its operations at home. It opened a large new building in Da Nang in April. Speaking at the new building, Binh discussed his belief in free trade.

“I think that’s very important for Vietnam, not only open to the world, but also to improve the regulations for trading and manufacturing and make Vietnam more international,” he said.

Technology is growing fast in Vietnam.

“For domestic, we normally got 15 percent annually⁶. For export, we normally get 25 percent per year,” said Binh.

“Intel and Samsung are among the biggest investors⁷ in the country,” he added.

In 2010, Intel opened a $1 billion chip factory in Vietnam. Samsung makes half of its mobile phones in the country. By some estimates, they account for 20 percent of Vietnam’s exports.

Free trade and investment are driving Vietnam’s economy. It has one of the strongest growth rates in Asia, at more than 6 percent a year.

Vietnam has trade deals with a number of other countries, including South Korea and Japan. Binh said His company's largest operation is in Japan. He said the country is a big market where the company sees continued growth.

A trans-Pacific deal, even without the United States, would also help the economy since Vietnam would trade more with its neighbors.

FPT says it will not miss the worldwide, digital revolution.

“Vietnam was late for the last three industrial revolutions,” said Binh. He said this may be the last chance for the country to catch up with the rest of the world.

I'm Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

bilateral - adj. involving two groups or countries

beneficial - adj. producing good or helpful results or effects: producing benefits

regulation - n. an official rule or law that says how something should be done

1 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

2 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

3 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

7 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会