The US ranked first in the top five markets for Vietnamese exports in September, with a trade surplus of more than 1.2 billion USD recorded for Vietnam, according to the General Department of Customs' statistics.

Statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Trade showed that export turnover to the US in the first nine months of this year hit 14.32 billion USD, an increase of 14.83 percent over the same period last year.

In September alone, turnover reached 1.58 billion USD, mainly thanks to garment and textile products, (making up more than 41 percent), footwear (12 percent), wood products (9 percent) and fisheries (6 percent).

The US was followed by Hong Kong, the UK, Australia and the United Arab Emirates in terms of trade surplus in Vietnam's favour.

For the remainder of the year, export turnover to the US must amount to 2 billion USD per month on average to fulfil the target of 20 billion USD for the whole year.

The ministry said the figure might be achievable if the US economy sees continued signs of improvement and rising consumption during the final months of the year.

According to the customs department, the biggest share of imports to Vietnam came from China , with Vietnam holding a trade deficit with its northern neighbour of more than 1.5 billion USD last month, an increase of 6 percent over August.

The country's total import-export turnover during the first nine months of this year was 166.96 billion USD.-VNA