Illustrative image (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s exports in the first three months of the yearwent beyond expectations with total export value estimated at 43.03 billionUSD, up12.8 percent from the same time last year.
Phan Van Chinh, Director of the Import-ExportDepartment under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said the export turnoverof the domestic sector grew by 12 percent while that of foreign-investedexpanded by 13 percent.
Exports of agro-forestry-aquatic products enjoyed remarkable achievements whenthey went up by 12.2 percent and made up 12.5 percent of the total exportrevenue, higher than last year’s figure of 11 percent.
The manufacturing sector still kept its export growth trend, reaching 12.5percent. Meanwhile, shipments of minerals and fuel saw recovery thanks to anincrease in prices of oil and other goods.
However, the country splashed out 45.03 billion USD on imports in the period,which led to a trade deficit of 2 billion USD, or 4.4 percent of the totalexport revenue.
Chinh said that this was spurred by a plunge of 828 million USD in exportrevenue of Samsung company, which dragged down growth of manufacturing productexports. In addition, the increased imports of materials for domesticproduction like computers, components and leather also contributed to the tradedeficit.
Furthermore, the disbursement of 3.6 billion USD by foreign-invested projectsto purchase equipment and machines like Samsung Display project in Bac Ninh andfiber project in Binh Duong also affected the country’s import revenue.
Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said that local enterprises shouldfocus on diversifying export products to avoid dependence on key exports likemobile phones as their decreased turnover will have critical impacts on the totalexport revenue.-VNA
VNA
