Vietnam's trade deficit was estimated at 200 million USD in June, with the total export turnover being 12.1 billion USD and that of imports being 12.3 billion USD.

Statistics from the General Statistics Office showed that the total export turnover in the first half of the year would reach 70.9 billion USD, posting a 15 percent year-on-year increase, while the total import turnover would be 69.6 billion USD, an increase of 11 percent year on year.

The country saw a trade surplus of 1.3 billion USD in the six-month period.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) businesses (including crude oil) dominated the trade activities compared with domestic firms, according to the office.

The sector saw a high trade surplus of 8.5 billion USD, while the domestic companies reported a trade deficit of 7.2 billion USD in the first half of the year.

In June, the total export turnover was reduced by 2.5 percent over the previous month, staying at 12.1 billion USD.

Some products saw an increase in export turnover in June. The rubber exports turnover increased by 38 percent to touch 44 million USD; garments and textile rose by 13 percent to reach 206 million USD; and that of wood and wood products posted a 14 percent increase to reach 63 million USD.

The FDI sector also took the lead in terms of import turnover during the period, with an increase of 12 percent, while that of domestic firms was 10 percent.

The import of items used for assembly was still high year over year. The import turnover of machines and equipment and spare parts rose by 22 percent to reach 1.9 billion USD; that of phones and spare parts rose by 6 percent to touch 237 million USD; metals' import turnover rose by 17 percent to amount to 244 million USD; garment material increased by 28 percent to touch 515 million USD and that of cloth rose by 18 percent to a total of 72 million USD.

The office said that this was a positive sign which reflected the recovery of domestic production activities. However, Vietnamese enterprises have not been active in production as the imports mainly served the assembly activities of the FDI sector.-VNA