
Hanoi (VNA) – Export activities recordedencouraging figures in January, and more growth is on the way, according to theMinistry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).
MoIT data showed that Vietnam’s total traderevenue reached 40.8 billion USD in January, up 1.8 percent from the previousmonth and 0.89 percent year on year.
That included about 20 billion USD in exports,up 1.9 percent from December. Overseas shipments by domestic companies rose 7.8percent from a year earlier to 6.42 billion USD while those, including crudeoil exports, by foreign invested firms dropped 5.1 percent to 13.58 billionUSD.
Exports of agro-forestry-fishery products wereestimated at 2.26 billion USD, up 3.1 percent month on month and accounting for11.28 percent of total exports.
Most items in this category like fruit andvegetables, cassava and cassava products, coffee and pepper posted fast growth,the MoIT said.
Meanwhile, exports in the manufacturing industryreached 16.42 billion USD, up 1.6 percent from last December and making up morethan 82 percent of total revenue.
Big contributors included mobile phones andcomponents, textile and garment, computers, other electronic products andcomponents and footwear.
Partially thanks to free trade agreements,Vietnam’s exports to most markets sustained the upward trend in January. The USwas the biggest destination of Vietnamese goods with a turnover of 4.05 billionUSD, increasing by 11.8 percent from the same period last year.
Sharing the same trend, import turnover inJanuary was estimated at 20.8 billion USD, up 1.7 percent month on month.
That resulted in a total trade deficit of 800million USD, equivalent to 4 percent of export revenue. Meanwhile, mostimported goods were materials for production, which is a positive sign ofproduction expansion by both domestic and foreign invested firms this year.
The MoIT predicted more export growthopportunities in the future when a foldable smartphone model and the Galaxy S10series of Samsung, a large electronic product manufacturer in Vietnam, willmake global debuts later in February.
Additionally, the capacity of this business’factories in the country is expected to be maximised in 2019 as SamsungElectronics has shut down its mobile phone factory in China’s Tianjin city andhas encountered production difficulties in India.
The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement forTrans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) officially took effect in 2019, which is alsohoped to help Vietnamese goods raise their market share in member countrieslike Canada, New Zealand and Australia, according to the MoIT.-VNA
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