Tan Vu port in Hai Phong city (Source: baohaiquan.vn) Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam enjoyed a trade surplus of 3.37 billion USD in thefirst two quarters of 2018, the highest level over the last five years.
According to the GeneralDepartment of Customs, the country’s export turnover increased by 16.3 percent year-on-year to 114.2billion USD in the reviewed period.
Twenty commodities have posted export revenue of over 1 billion USD so far.They included phones and components (22.5 billion USD); computers, electronicproducts and components (13.45 billion USD); textile-garment (13.42 billionUSD); machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts (7.8 billion USD); andfootwear (7.79 billion USD).
In terms of imports, the country spent 110.83billion USD on importing goods from January to June, up by 9.6 percent.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), domestic businesses reporteda 19.9-percent rise in their exports by shipping 33.07 billion USD worth ofgoods abroad over the first half. Meanwhile, FDI enterprises earned 80.86billion USD from exports, up 14.5 percent in the corresponding period lastyear.
The ministry said there are many favourable conditions for export throughoutthe rest of the year.
Agricultural and fishery exports often increase in the middle and peak at theend of each year. Industrial products with big export revenues, liketextile-garment, footwear, and wood products, have entered their export seasonsince the second quarter, it noted.
Additionally, the Comprehensive and ProgressiveAgreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the EU-Vietnam Free TradeAgreement, expected to take effect in 2019, have been already been catalystsfor foreign direct investment that could help Vietnam further boost its productioncapacity, it added.
The ministry forecast this year’s exports at236.6 billion USD, up 10 percent against 2017.-VNA
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