Vietnam’s trade deficit in the year to mid-September had substantially narrowed down to a mere US$701 million, equivalent to 0.5% of export revenue, owing to better export performance in recent months, data from the General Department of Vietnam Customs shows.

In August and the first half of September, the country had a trade surplus of US$1.69 billion, having suffered from a sharp trade deficit in the year’s first half.

The country’s trade volume in August was at its highest level this year, at US$37.95 billion. 

This is an impressive result as Vietnam had to face a monthly trade deficit in the first half of this year, leading to a trade gap of nearly US$2.78 billion. 

However, the situation changed for the better as the country’s trade made a turnaround in July with a surplus of US$266 million.

The customs attributed the trade deficit to domestic enterprises while foreign invested firms brought  a strong trade surplus.

Specifically, from early this year to September 15, foreign invested enterprises earned US$189.54 billion from exports, making up 65.6% of the country’s total export revenue and growing 23.5% versus the year-ago period. 

As a result, this sector gained a trade surplus of US$14.07 billion.

Meanwhile, domestic companies had a trade gap of US$14.77 billion in the same period.

According to the General Department of Customs, total import-export turnover had reached US$289.14 billion in the year to September 15, increasing 21.4% over the same period last year. 

In which, exports and imports were US$144.22 billion and US$144.92 billion respectively, up 20.1% and 22.7%.

SGT