Viet Nam's trade deficit this year was the lowest in the past 10 years, reaching just over US$9.5 billion, a year-on-year decrease of nearly 23 per cent and equivalent to 9.9 per cent of the total export value – half of the Government's target of 18 per cent for the whole financial year, the General Statistics Office (GSO) reported.
Exports were valued at nearly $96.26 billion this year, a year-on-year increase of 33.3 per cent – the highest level since 1995 and tripling the National Assembly's target of 10 per cent.

Total import value also increased 24.7 per cent to more than $105.77 billion.

The export value of the FDI (foreign direct investment) sector recorded the highest increase of 39.3 per cent over last year, fetching $54.46 billion, while exports by the domestic sector rose more than 26 per cent to nearly $41.8 billion.

Of the total 27 export commodities, textiles and garments recorded the highest value, $14.28 billion, up 25.1 per cent year-on-year and even surpassing the export value of crude oil which earned the nation nearly $7.24 billion this year.

As many as 19 commodities had export turnovers of more than $1 billion, including seafood products ($6.1 billion), footwear ($6.5 billion), electronics-computers-spare parts and machinery-equipment-devices ($4.1 billion), rice ($3.6 billion), coffee ($2.7 billion), and cassava products ($2.6 billion).

Head of the GSO's Trade Department Le Minh Thuy attributed the high export value this year to business expansion by some FDI enterprises.

"This year, the proportion of industrial and mineral products exported rose 4 per cent year-on-year and accounted for 35.2 per cent of total export value," Thuy said.

Regarding imports, Thuy said the value of materials for production this year was 90.6 per cent of total imports, while consumer products were just 7.6 per cent.

Twenty two out of 30 imported merchandise goods were valued at more than $1 billion, of which machinery, equipment and devices led with $15.2 billion, a year-on-year increase of 12 per cent.

Fuel followed with a total import value of $9.9 billion; electronics-computers-spare parts, $7.2 billion; fabric, $6.7 billion; steel, $6.3 billion; plastic, $4.7 billion; and automobile, $3.1 billion.

VNA