VOA常速英语2007年-US Commerce Secretary Leads Trade Mission to Vi

By Matt Steinglass
Hanoi
05 November 2007

United States Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez is leading a trade mission of 22 American companies to Vietnam - the first since Vietnam joined the World Trade Organization. American businesses are eager to ramp¹ up investment in Vietnam. Matt Steinglass reports from Hanoi.

Trade between the United States and Vietnam rose from $1.5 billion in 2001 to $9.7 billion last year - a trend that both sides want to see continue.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said the business leaders on his trip want to invest more in Vietnam, and to remove hurdles² to investing in the Vietnamese economy fast.

"The big issue that companies have brought forward is that they would like things to move faster," he said. "The bright side is that they all want to invest."

The companies participating in the trade mission include manufacturing giants such as ALCOA, Ford³, and Dow Chemical, in fields ranging from electronics to energy and tourism.

Adam Sitkoff, head of the U.S. Chamber⁴ of Commerce in Hanoi, said that while Americans want to invest in Vietnam, the decisions necessary to smooth the way sometimes come slowly, especially on improving Vietnam's infrastructure⁵.

"The American business community views Vietnam as the most exciting emerging marketplace in the world," he said. "It's not just American companies that think that Vietnam needs to move forward more quickly on key infrastructure projects. Vietnamese people think that Vietnam needs to move forward more quickly on key infrastructure projects."

Manufacturing companies are worried that Vietnam's inadequate⁶ ports, roads and railways may be jammed by the country's exploding exports.

The United States runs a large and growing trade deficit⁷ with Vietnam. Gutierrez said the way to reduce that was to raise U.S. exports by demanding market access in Vietnam.

"We don't want to reduce the trade deficit by limiting imports into the U.S. We believe that that backfires, and that isn't good for the economy," he said.

U.S. fears that rising Vietnamese textile exports would harm industry led the United States to impose a program last year to monitor Vietnamese textile imports for dumping. Gutierrez said that program would extend through the end of the Bush administration.

This trade mission of 22 companies is the first from the United States to Hanoi since Vietnam joined the World Trade Organization in January. Vietnam has one of the world's fastest-growing economies after China, expanding at more than eight percent a year.

1 ramp   

n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速

参考例句：

• That driver drove the car up the ramp.那司机将车开上了斜坡。
• The factory don't have that capacity to ramp up.这家工厂没有能力加速生产。

2 hurdles   

n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛

参考例句：

• In starting a new company, many hurdles must be crossed. 刚开办一个公司时，必须克服许多障碍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are several hurdles to be got over in this project. 在这项工程中有一些困难要克服。 来自辞典例句

3 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

4 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

5 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

6 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

7 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。