ASSESSMENT OF THE 10-YEAR IMPACT OF THE UNITED STATES- VIETNAM BILATERAL TRADE AGREEMENT ON FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT ATTRACTION AND FOREIGN TRADE OF VIETNAM Hoang Chi Cuong 1, 2, *, Ph.D. 1Hai Phong Private University, Business Administration Department 2Vietnamese Fulbright Scholar, Postdoctoral Fellowship at School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University Bloomington, the USA *E-mail:
[email protected] Abstract This study employs gravity model and a panel dataset of country pairs which involves 17 FDI and trade partners of Vietnam including Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, and the U.S. in the period from 1995 to 2011. This is to examine the possible impacts of the USBTA on FDI inflows and exports and imports of Vietnam. The estimation results indicate that the USBTA has not induced FDI inflows into Vietnam but it has significant impact on expending both exports and imports of the country. Key words: exports, FDI, gravity model, Hausman-Taylor estimation, imports, USBTA, Vietnam 1. INTRODUCTION On 13 July 2000, the United States and Vietnam signed a sweeping bilateral trade agreement (USBTA) after 5 years since two countries have normal diplomatic relation in 1995. Following affirmative votes in Congress and the Vietnamese National Assembly, the USBTA entered into force on 10 December 2001, when the two countries formally exchanged letters implementing the agreement. Under this Deal, the United States will extend temporary most favored nation status (MFN, also known as normal trade relations [NTR] status) to Vietnam, a step that will significantly reduce U.S.