The southern province of Dong Nai plans to earn 14.4 billion USD from exports in 2015, up 15 percent from 2014, according to the provincial Department of Trade and Industry.

The department said the objective is within reach thanks to the import demand of firms from France, New Zealand and Hong Kong for Vietnamese products, including clothes, construction materials, sanitary equipment and foodstuffs.

Growth is also expected to be buoyed by large orders being shifted to Vietnam thanks to tax and customs incentives from a series of free trade agreements signed and to be signed between Vietnam and other countries.

The locality will foster trade promotion activities, organise study tours and fact-finding missions and join domestic and international trade fairs to achieve the target.

Administrative reform will also be accelerated to enhance the competitiveness of local firms. The role of industrial associations and connections with other localities will be strengthened to expand the export market.

For the first four months this year, foreign trade value of the province was estimated at more than 8.1 billion USD, of which 4.2 billion USD came from exports, up seven percent from the same period last year.

A significant increase has been seen in the major export sectors, including footwear, up 16.1 percent; garment products, 14.7 percent; and computers and electronic products, 12 percent. Most of them were shipped to the US, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea.

In April alone, the province has so far earned 1.1 billion USD from exports, up 9.8 percent from last month, while the import value posted at 1 billion USD, a decrease of 7.9 percent from last month.-VNA