Vietnam is facing four key challenges, including the risk of becoming a country that have commercial friction with the US, early non-industrialization, not being able to participate in industrialization production chain and not really grasping the automotive industry, according to a Japanese expert.

Prof. Ikebe Ryo from Senshu university of Japan said in an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency that Vietnam, which account for 4.5 percent of the US trade deficit, could become a commercial friction country with the US.

Vietnam is among the six countries with large trade deficits with the US, after China, Mexico, Germany, Japan and Ireland. 

Prof. Ikebe stressed that facing this risk, Vietnam needs to promote industries that require specialized technical human resources and new investment capital flows.

Regarding the participation in industrialization production chain, Ikebe said promoting the development of small- and medium-sized enterprises in supporting industries such as mold making, metal sheet manufacturing, coating, and metal surface treatment is extremely important, and can be said to be an urgent issue for Vietnam.

On capturing the automotive industry - one of the key areas of industrialization, Ikebe said the automobile industry in Vietnam was in the initial stage.