VINACHEM

There are signs that recovery is becoming more broad-based in Viet Nam, with marginal improvements in sectors like textiles and footwear, as well as machinery, highlighted HSBC in its report Viet Nam at a glance released on March 7.

Statistics of the General Statistics Office (GSO) showed that trade between Viet Nam and the rest of the world is estimated at US$113.96 billion in the first two months of 2024, a year-on-year increase of 18.6 percent.

Viet Nam earned US$59.34 billion from exporting during the January-February period, up 19.2 percent.

And, it spent US$54.62 billion on imports, up 18 percent compared to the same period last year.

The January and February data combined point to a robust recovery in Viet Nam's trade cycle, noted the bank.

Encouragingly, electronics shipments continue to drive export growth. Other products that were previously lagging, including textiles and footwear, as well as machinery shipments, have also seen positive recovery, albeit still gradual, according to the HSBC report.

The bank said, the encouraging data indicates a strong and sustained recovery in Viet Nam's trade rebound. Looking ahead, leading indicators for the exports sector indicate the recovery momentum will likely carry on.

For instance, the latest manufacturing PMI remained in expansionary territory on the back of positive output and new orders, as well as employment. The gap between new orders and inventory–a useful leading indicator of production–has shown solid improvements in momentum.

Robust spending on services continued, with strong domestic tourism of 10.5 million over the Tet holidays. International tourists also continued to pile into the momentum, with mainland Chinese tourists now returning to around 60 percent of 2019's levels, bringing total tourists on par with their pre-pandemic equivalent.

Viet Nam welcomed over 3 million foreign tourists in the January-February period, a year-on-year increase of 68.7 percent against the same period last year, reported the GSO./.

– Source:VGP –