[HO CHI MINH CITY] Vietnam was on Saturday (Jun 14) confirmed as the tenth Brics partner country, a year after it expressed interest in collaborating with the bloc amid the latter’s ongoing membership expansion.
This also came a day after Brazil, which is at the helm of the group of major emerging economies this year, announced the formal admission of Vietnam into the bloc, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and other nations.
The prolonged process of establishing the formal relationship occurred as Vietnam faced increasing risks from US President Donald Trump’s tariff blitz, including a significant reciprocal levy of 46 per cent imposed in April.
“Being formally associated with Brics, even as a partner country, can disproportionately increase Vietnam’s risk exposure, relative to any potential benefits of joining Brics,” analyst at London-headquartered consultancy Control Risks Le Truong Giang told The Business Times earlier this year.
The potential gains from the partnership with the bloc, however, he added, include diversifying export markets to reduce reliance on the US, which is Vietnam’s largest goods buyer. The South-east Asian nation could also expect to enhance investments for industrialisation and infrastructure development, as well as strengthen its geopolitical leverage in its relationships with major powers.
Lavanya Venkateswaran, senior Asean economist at OCBC, noted that Vietnam’s export share to Brics nations – excluding China – remains low, with India at 2.2 per cent, South Africa at 0.2 per cent, and Russia at 0.6 per cent, indicating significant room for growth.
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“Vietnam’s broader agenda to diversify trading partners is not mutually exclusive from its ongoing negotiations with the US,” she noted. “Outcomes on discussions regarding transshipments and point of origin issues will be crucial to Vietnam maintaining the US as a key export partner.”
Hanoi is actively seeking a compromise with Washington before a 90-day pause on the tariff plans ends next month.
As the two concluded the third round of trade discussions on Jun 12, Vietnam said on Sunday that it had made progress and was “narrowing the gap” on all fronts, while also seeking online meetings with Washington in the coming days to continue discussions on remaining issues.
US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said earlier this month that there is still room for talks if Vietnam curtails imports from China and reduces its trade surplus with the US, which amounted to US$123 billion last year – the third largest among US trade partners after China and Mexico.
In a response to local media on its partnership with Brics, spokesperson of Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pham Thu Hang underlined the country’s desire to enhance the voice and role of developing countries.
Brazil’s government echoed this view as it said last Friday that Vietnam stands out as a relevant actor in Asia. “Its efforts in favor of South-South cooperation and sustainable development reinforce its convergence with the interests of the group,” it added.
Before Vietnam’s involvement, several other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) countries had already engaged with Brics – Indonesia as a full member, and Thailand and Malaysia as partner countries.
Venkateswaran added that the association with the Brics economies for Asean underscores the region’s priority in broadening economic relationships to gain deeper trade, investments, people-to-people, and tourism relationships.
“Some of the lower-hanging fruit include bolstering tourism activities amongst Brics member economies through visa incentives as well as encouraging cross-country education opportunities,” she noted.
