Throughout the January - April period the domestic economic sector suffered a trade deficit of US$8.04 billion, while the foreign-invested sector enjoyed a surplus of US$14.39 billion.

The four-month import-export turnover was estimated at US$210.78 billion, while both exports and imports endured declines in value.

GSO reported that US$27.54 billion was generated from exports in April, a decrease of 7.3% from the previous month and a drop of 17.1% year on year. The April figure caused the four-month export earnings down 11.8% year on year to US$108.57 billion.

Processed industrial products brought in US$96.1 billion, accounting for 88.5% of the total export earnings in the four-month period.

Meanwhile, Vietnam spent US$26.03 billion on imports in April and US$102.22 billion in the four-month period, down by 20.5% and 15.4% respectively, with the majority of them being production materials.

In the first four months of this year, the United States remained the country’s largest export market, spending US$28.4 billion on Vietnamese goods, while China was the largest goods supplier to Vietnam, earning US$33.3 billion.

In order to maintain growth, the Ministry of Industry and Trade stated that relevant agencies and localities must support businesses in accessing market information in a timely manner, taking full advantage of free trade agreement commitments, and finding new markets to boost exports.

The Ministry also underlined the necessity of closely monitoring global market fluctuations, and actively assessing their impacts on local production, imports, and exports in order to make appropriate adjustments and responses in support of businesses and business associations.

Source: VOV