Vietnam was estimated to enjoy a trade surplus of more than 1.08 billionUSD in the first quarter of this year, the General Department ofVietnam Customs noted on April 17.
The country's exports in theperiod reached 33.54 billion USD, posting a year-on-year increase of14.8 percent. Meanwhile, the country spent a total of 32.45 billion USDto import goods and services, resulting in a rise of 12.8 percent overthe same period last year.
The foreign invested sector continuedto play a key role in the country's import-export turnover in Q1.Thesector shipped 20.74 billion USD worth of goods, up 18.7 percent fromthe previous year, accounting for 61.8 percent of the country's totalexport value.
The total imports were recorded at 18.86 billionUSD, up 16.5 percent in comparison to the corresponding period lastyear, constituting 58.1 percent of the country's import values, the datarevealed.
During the first quarter, the country chiefly exportedcell phones and accessories worth 5.47 billion USD (up 23.8 percent),garment and textile worth 4.44 billion USD (up 19.4 percent), computers,electronic products, and spare parts worth 2.2 billion USD (down 6.5percent), footwear 2.12 billion USD (up 24 percent), transport equipmentand spare parts 1.67 billion USD (up 29.5 per cent), aquatic products1.62 billion USD (up 35 percent), and crude oil worth 1.6 billion USD(down 13.5 percent).
In the first quarter, the country importedmachinery, equipment, tools and spare parts worth 4.85 billion USD (up28 percent), computers, electronic products, and spare parts worth 4.2billion USD (up 2 percent), cell phones and accessories 2.06 billion USD(up 21.2 percent), petroleum 1.94 billion USD (up 16.6 percent),clothes 1.93 billion USD (up 18.4 percent), and steel and iron worth 1.5billion USD (down 3.7 percent).-VNA