A Korean cosmetic firm offers advice to Vietnamese consumers. Vietnam has the largest trade deficit with the RoK.(Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam maintained a trade surplus of about 2.7 billion USD this year, the same figure as 2016, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).
The national trade value in 2017 was estimated at nearly 425 billion USD, representing a bright spot in the economic picture of the year, the office said. The value of exports was estimated at 213.77 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 21 percent, higher than the annual growth rate of 9 percent in export value in 2016.
Meanwhile, the value of imports in 2017 was estimated at 211.1 billion USD, 20.8 percent higher than 2016.
Foreign-invested companies notched a trade surplus of 28.8 billion USD, contributing substantially to the total national trade surplus, while the domestic economic sector continued to have trade deficit of 26.2 billion USD.
GSO said Samsung’s exports of new products contributed to the strong growth in the country’s export value this year because the group invested in expanding production of export products. At the same time, the expansion of production led to an increase in Samsung’s demand for imported machinery, equipment and raw materials.
The office said the FDI sector gained 155.2 billion USD from the exports, up 23 percent year-on-year, while the domestic-invested sector achieved 58.5 billion USD, up 16.2 percent.
The FDI sector paid 126.4 billion USD for its imports, an increase of 23.4 percent. The domestic economic sector’s import value surged by 17 percent to 84.7 billion USD.
The office said in 2017, China was the largest trading partner of Vietnam but the Southeast Asian nation had the largest trade deficit with the Republic of Korea.
China’s two-way trade with Vietnam was valued at 93.8 billion USD, of which exports to China reached 35.3 billion USD, up 60.6 percent and imports from China reached 58.5 billion USD, up 16.9 percent year-on-year.
However, Vietnam’s trade deficit with China was estimated at 23.2 billion USD, down 17.4 percent, being the second-largest trade deficit after that with the Republic of Korea.
Some Vietnamese commodities to China with strong exports included computers and components (up 73.5 percent to 3 billion USD); fruits and vegetables (up 57.6 percent to 1 billion USD); and phones and components (up 679.8 percent to 5.4 billion USD due to higher demand).
Vietnam’s imports of machinery, tools and spare parts increased by 19 percent to 1.8 billion USD; of phones and components by 38.2 percent to 2.3 billion USD; and of computer, electronic products and their components by 20.3 percent to 1.2 billion USD.
Meanwhile, the Republic of Korea was the second largest trading partner after China with 61.8 billion USD in trade value, of which exports were valued at 15 billion USD, up 31.1 percent, and imports at 46.8 billion USD, up 45.5 percent year-on-year.
Therefore, Vietnam had the largest trade deficit with the RoK at 31.8 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 53.4 percent.
Vietnam’s goods gaining high export value to the Republic of Korea included telephones and components (up 48.7 percent to 1.3 billion USD); textiles and garments (up 18.4 percent to 421 million USD); and computers and components (up 45.1 percent to 565 million USD).
The nation also saw rising imports of computers, electronic products and components (up 76.1 percent to 6.6 billion USD) and machinery, equipment and spare parts (up 50.1 percent to 3 billion USD).
The US ranked third in two-way trade with 50.7 billion USD, of which export values reached the highest level of 41.5 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 8 percent, and import value stood at 9.1 billion USD, up 4.9 percent, reported BizLive.
The bilateral trade value with the EU reached 50.4 billion USD, including export value at 38.3 billion USD, up 12.8 percent, and import value at 12 billion USD, up 7.7 percent.
The trade value between Vietnam and the ASEAN market was estimated at 49.7 billion USD in 2017, including export value at 21.7 billion USD, up 24.5 per cent, and import value at 28 billion USD, up 16.4 percent.
The trade value with Japan stood at 33.3 billion USD, of which export were valued at 16.8 billion USD, up 14.2 percent, and imports at 16.5 billion USD, up 9.7 percent.-VNA
VNA
