VINACHEM

Vietnam racked up a trade surplus of US$20.19 billion during the opening eight months of the year, according to the latest statistics compiled by the General Statistics Office (GSO).

Throughout the reviewed period, the country's total import-export turnover of goods dropped by 13.11% to US$435.23 billion on-year, of which exports and imports witnessed a fall of 10% and 16.2%, respectively.

August alone saw the total import and export turnover of goods stand at an estimated US$60.92 billion, up 6.7% over the previous month.

With regard to exports, Vietnam raked in US$32.37 billion from exports in August, marking an increase of 7.7% over the previous month, of which the domestic and foreign-invested economic sectors grossed US$8.43 billion and US$23.94 billion, respectively, representing annual rises of 8.7% and 7.3%.

During the eight-month period, there were 30 items recording export turnover of over US$1 billion, duly accounting for 91.8% of total export turnover, including five export products with over US$10 billion, making up 58.4%.

Among the various groups of exports, fuels and minerals generated roughly US$2.82 billion, processed industrial products with US$201.31 billion, agricultural and forestry products with US$17.87 billion, and seafood products with US$5.71 billion.

Most notably, fruit and vegetables have made strong breakthroughs over recent years with export turnover in the past eight months reaching US$3.5 billion, up nearly 56% over the same period from last year.

Among the fruit and vegetable groups, durian and dragon fruit were the major contributors to this significant growth. Indeed, durian exports throughout the reviewed period accounted for 30% of total turnover.

Insiders predict that it is likely that fruit and vegetable exports will reach the historic milestone of US$5 billion this year.

Elsewhere, textile and garment exports in July enjoyed a surge of 6.8% to US$3.27 billion over the previous month. This was also the month that saw the highest value over the last 11 months, thereby showing signs of recovery in many markets.

Vu Duc Giang, chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), said the textile and garment industry is expected to achieve an export turnover of between US$40 billion and US$41 billion this year

Meanwhile, the import turnover of goods in August alone was estimated to be at US$28.55 billion, up 5.7% over the previous month.

The import turnover during the eight month-period reached US$207.52 billion, a fall of 16.2% over the same period from last year. There were 37 imported items with a value of over US$1 billion, accounting for 89.9% of the total import turnover, including two imported items with over US$10 billion, making up 38.8%.

According to information given by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, another favorable factor for exports in the remaining months of the year is that the US economy has enjoyed faster growth than expected amid inventories continuing to decrease.

Furthermore, developed countries continue to promote the strategy of diversifying sources of supply, supply chains, and investment, a factor that has helped the country become an important production and export centre in the global value chain.

Moreover, the existing free trade agreements (FTAs) with major market international partners such as Europe and the Americas continues to exert a positive impact on trade, investment, and exports.

Some garment and textile products begins to enjoy an import duty of 0% in the EU market under the terms of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), which will ensure a favourable condition for businesses to boost exports to these markets moving forward.

Source: VOV