Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s import-export value in the first five months of this year wasestimated at 262.54 billion USD, down 14.7% year-on-year, with a trade surplusof 9.8 billion USD, the General Statistics Office (GSO) announced on May 29.
In the period, Vietnamexported about 136.17 billion USD worth of goods, a year-on-year drop of 11.6%, while imports totalled 126.37 billion USD, down 17.9% year on year.
As many as 23 export items joined the more than one-billion-USDclub, making up 87.4% of the total export turnover.
Regarding the structure of exports, processed commodities earned 120.24billion USD (88.3%); agro-forestry products, 10.79 billion USD; aquatic products,3.37 billion USD; and fuel and minerals, about 1.77 billion USD.
As for imports, the domestic economic sector imported 43.95 billion USD worth of goods, down 18.5% year-on-year while the foreign-invested sector imported 82.42 billion USD worth of goods, down 17.5%.
Of the import revenue, 118.31 billion USD was spent on production materials and 8.06 billion USD on consumer goods.
The US was the biggest importer of Vietnamese products with 37.2billion USD, while China was the largest import market with 43.4 billionUSD.
Given unpredictable developments in import and exportactivities, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is continuing to closely monitordevelopments in the world market and propose cooperation frameworksand solutions to develop traditional markets and diversify export markets. It will also continue supporting businesses to take advantage of signed free tradeagreements (FTAs) to effectively exploit markets and boost exports.
The ministry will continue diversifying exportmarkets and products, focusing on developing exports through cross-bordere-commerce, and foreign distribution systems, promoting brand development forVietnamese goods, and increasing the export of highly-processed goods andthose made with high technology, having a high localisation rate.
The ministry considers e-commerce an importantdistribution channel, especially for agricultural products and consumerindustrial goods./.

