VINACHEM

Vietnam posted a year-on-year increase of 16.2 percent in export value to ASEAN to 6.4 billion USD in the first nine months of the year, reported the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

ASEAN, which consumed over 11 percent of Vietnam’s total exports, emerged as the third-largest market of Vietnamese goods, following the US and the EU. The grouping is also the second largest exporter to Vietnam, following only China.

Dao Tran Nhan, former Director of the Asia-Pacific Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, says two-way trade between Vietnam and ASEAN surged sharply in recent years, with revenues doubling the 2005 figure to over 29.7 billion USD in 2008.

The revenues dropped to around 22.4 billion USD in 2009 due to the global economic crisis.

Vietnam’s major exports to other ASEAN member economies are rice and crude oil, which account for 37 percent of Vietnam’s gross revenues from the grouping.

Singapore is always Vietnam’s biggest trade partner among ASEAN members, followed by Thailand and Malaysia. Other members such as Cambodia, Laos and the Philippines are evaluated as having great potential.

Nhan said the trade balance was still lopsided in favour of ASEAN as Vietnam’s key exports remain unsteady, especially rice and crude, as their prices are the most volatile in the global market.

Garment, footwear and seafoods, though being Vietnam’s strengths, account for a very small proportion of the country’s export value to the ASEAN markets.

Economists see a large space available in the more than 500 million-strong ASEAN market for Vietnamese goods to gain a firm foothold in – if exporters can tap tariff advantages./.