Trade with the Asia-Pacific region made up 61.8 percent of Vietnam’s total trade value in the first half of 2014, said the Nhan Dan (People) online newspaper.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), Vietnam’s export value was 32.26 billion USD, up 12 percent year on year while imports were 53.8 billion USD, up 10.1 percent compared with the first six months of 2013.

The export values to Northeast Asia (excluding China), Southeast Asia and Chinese-speaking markets were 10.2 billion USD, 9.4 billion USD and 10.6 billion USD, respectively.

Meanwhile shipments to the Oceania markets, including Australia and New Zealand, brought in a modest 1.98 billion USD, however, this figure represents a year-on-year rise of 21.3 percent, the highest growth rate among Asia-Pacific sub-regions.

On the import side, Vietnam purchased goods worth 25.4 billion USD from Chinese-speaking markets during the first half of this year, up 16 percent from last year.

Northeast Asia (excluding China) came second with 16.1 billion USD, followed by Southeast Asia, which exported goods worth 11 billion USD to Vietnam in the first half of 2014.

Vietnam’s imports from these two sub-regions increased by 4.5 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively, compared with the first half of 2013.

During that same period, Vietnam’s imports from Oceania markets surged by 28.9 percent to reach 1.2 billion USD.

According to the MOIT, Vietnam’s exports to the ASEAN rose slightly by 3.6 percent as shipments to major markets fell short of expectations.

Exports to Malaysia and Cambodia declined by 21 percent and 15 percent respectively while shipments to Thailand recorded a small increase of 4 percent.-VNA