A Korean cosmetic firm offers advice to Vietnamese consumers. Vietnam has the largest trade deficit with the RoK.(Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam maintained a trade surplus of about 2.7billion USD this year, the same figure as 2016, according to the GeneralStatistics Office (GSO).
The national trade value in 2017 was estimated at nearly 425 billion USD,representing a bright spot in the economic picture of the year, the officesaid. The value of exports was estimated at 213.77 billion USD, a year-on-yearincrease of 21 percent, higher than the annual growth rate of 9 percent inexport value in 2016.
Meanwhile, the value of imports in 2017 was estimated at 211.1 billion USD,20.8 percent higher than 2016.
Foreign-invested companies notched a trade surplus of 28.8 billion USD,contributing substantially to the total national trade surplus, while thedomestic economic sector continued to have trade deficit of 26.2 billion USD.
GSO said Samsung’s exports of new products contributed to the strong growth inthe country’s export value this year because the group invested in expandingproduction of export products. At the same time, the expansion of production ledto an increase in Samsung’s demand for imported machinery, equipment and rawmaterials.
The office said the FDI sector gained 155.2 billion USD from the exports, up 23percent year-on-year, while the domestic-invested sector achieved 58.5 billionUSD, up 16.2 percent.
The FDI sector paid 126.4 billion USD for its imports, an increase of 23.4 percent.The domestic economic sector’s import value surged by 17 percent to 84.7billion USD.
The office said in 2017, China was the largest trading partner of Vietnam but theSoutheast Asian nation had the largest trade deficit with the Republic of Korea.
China’s two-way trade with Vietnam was valued at 93.8 billion USD, of whichexports to China reached 35.3 billion USD, up 60.6 percent and imports fromChina reached 58.5 billion USD, up 16.9 percent year-on-year.
However, Vietnam’s trade deficit with China was estimated at 23.2 billion USD,down 17.4 percent, being the second-largest trade deficit after that with the Republicof Korea.
Some Vietnamese commodities to China with strong exports included computers andcomponents (up 73.5 percent to 3 billion USD); fruits and vegetables (up 57.6percent to 1 billion USD); and phones and components (up 679.8 percent to 5.4billion USD due to higher demand).
Vietnam’s imports of machinery, tools and spare parts increased by 19 percentto 1.8 billion USD; of phones and components by 38.2 percent to 2.3 billion USD;and of computer, electronic products and their components by 20.3 percent to 1.2billion USD.
Meanwhile, the Republic of Korea was the second largest trading partner afterChina with 61.8 billion USD in trade value, of which exports were valued at 15billion USD, up 31.1 percent, and imports at 46.8 billion USD, up 45.5 percentyear-on-year.
Therefore, Vietnam had the largest trade deficit with the RoK at 31.8 billionUSD, a year-on-year increase of 53.4 percent.
Vietnam’s goods gaining high export value to the Republic of Korea includedtelephones and components (up 48.7 percent to 1.3 billion USD); textiles andgarments (up 18.4 percent to 421 million USD); and computers and components (up45.1 percent to 565 million USD).
The nation also saw rising imports of computers, electronic products andcomponents (up 76.1 percent to 6.6 billion USD) and machinery, equipment andspare parts (up 50.1 percent to 3 billion USD).
The US ranked third in two-way trade with 50.7 billion USD, of which exportvalues reached the highest level of 41.5 billion USD, a year-on-year increaseof 8 percent, and import value stood at 9.1 billion USD, up 4.9 percent,reported BizLive.
The bilateral trade value with the EU reached 50.4 billion USD, includingexport value at 38.3 billion USD, up 12.8 percent, and import value at 12billion USD, up 7.7 percent.
The trade value between Vietnam and the ASEAN market was estimated at 49.7billion USD in 2017, including export value at 21.7 billion USD, up 24.5 percent, and import value at 28 billion USD, up 16.4 percent.
The trade value with Japan stood at 33.3 billion USD, of which export werevalued at 16.8 billion USD, up 14.2 percent, and imports at 16.5 billion USD,up 9.7 percent.-VNA
VNA
