Hanoi (VNA) - Experts have judgedthat the national export goal and trade deficit rate next year set by theGovernment was feasible.

At the sixth session of the 14th NationalAssembly, the Government discussed economic goals for next year. The goal isfor gross domestic product (GDP) to increase between 6.6 and 6.8 percent,consumer price index (CPI) growth to be about 4 percent on average, the totalexport turnover to increase between 7 and 8 percent, the ratio of trade deficitover the total export turnover to be less than 3 percent and the totaldevelopment investment capital for the society to be 33-34 percent of GDP.

Associate Professor Dr Dinh Trong Thinhfrom the Academy of Finance said Vietnam had exceeded the plan set by theNational Assembly and the Government for import-export activities over the pastfew years.

“This is a remarkable achievement, contributingto the relatively stable economic growth,” he said.

Although the country’s export growth isdependent on foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises, Thinh isoptimistic that the export of agriculture, forestry and fishery products,fruits and vegetables had made significant progress in recent years.

Fruit had become a bright spot in exportactivities as it overcame rice exports. This was a very important move inchanging Vietnam from a rice producer to an exporter of vegetables and fruits,Thinh said.

Consumer goods have also shown relatively strongdevelopment, including dairy products and manufactured goods with growingexport turnover.

Confirming the import-export sector has been thehighlight of the economy in recent years, Dr Pham Tat Thang, senior researcherof the Trade Research Institute under the Ministry of Industry and Trade,pointed out the growth rate of exports and imports was often two or three timeshigher than the growth rate of the Vietnamese economy.

When assessing the export-import target set bythe Government for next year, Thang believed Vietnam would achieve the resultsas expected and said that if the Government and enterprises made anybreakthroughs, the results might even be better. The business environment hasimproved quickly.

Despite being optimistic about achievements,experts still pointed out some disadvantages.

According to Thang, small- and medium-sizedenterprises (SMEs) were still facing barriers to development. If these barrierscould be eliminated, SMEs could contribute greatly to economic development.

In the field of export, Thang noted Vietnamwould be influenced by the US-China trade war.

"Our goods have been exported to China fora long time and we are quite dependent on that market,” he said. “When thetrade war began, the demand of the Chinese economy reduced, making it difficultto export Vietnamese goods to China. Vietnam must find a replacement marketright now. In order to find new markets, Vietnam has to change its productionstructure to meet demand."

As for the trade deficit rate goal for nextyear, Associate Prof. Thinh said that reducing trade deficit hinged on twofactors.

First, Vietnam must accelerate the export ofgoods. Secondly, it should try to reduce the import of consumer goods topromote local production activities and improve the quality of domestic goods.

"Along with that, it is necessary toconsider reducing the import of raw materials for production because manycommodities are still dependent on imported materials from other countriesincluding China,” he said, adding that the construction of processing and manufacturingplants must be sped up to add value for locally made products.-VNA