Ho Chi Minh – July 26, 2018, Forbes Vietnam’s Business Forum 2018 held in Ho Chi Minh under the theme “Building Sustainable Growth”. The event gathered top business leaders, experts, thinkers, and policymakers to discuss strategies to ensure growth is sustained, through long-term investment in core industries that Vietnam has the best capacity to develop.
Among the panelists in the session “Opportunities and Challenges for Manufacturing”, executive chairman of PEB Steel, Sami Kteily said “Current US-China trade war will bring more challenges for Vietnamese and Vietnamese based companies than opportunities, especially for the ones exporting goods – like steel components. We need the US to re-join the TPP, which is now known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership”.
Besides, Sami also shared that “PEB Steel is not directly affected by the trade war since the finished products are mainly sold within ASEAN, not US or China market. As a matter of fact, it might even create small advantages for us, if our steel suppliers that also export goods to the US decide to compensate for the loss of the US market by selling locally at reduced prices’.