A surge in exports has seen Vietnam's trade deficit drop sharply inthe first two months of the year, the General Statistics Office (GSO)said.
At the end of February, the trade deficit stood at 61million USD, much lower than the 361 million USD recorded in January, itsaid.
Le Thi Minh Thuy, head of GSO's commerce department, saidthat with the long Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday falling in February,enterprises had rushed to fulfill their export contracts.
This saw the export value soar to 9.6 billion USD, 300 million USD higher than February imports, she said.
This difference accounted for the fall in trade deficit for the first two months compared to just January, she added.
Inthe first two months, a year-on-year increase of 8.6 percent in exportvalue saw it reach 23.66 billion USD, against a corresponding surge of23.4 percent in import value pushed it to 23.05 billion USD.
Duringthe two months, foreign investment enterprises were the major exporterswith a total export value of 16 billion USD, 12.4 percent higher thanthe same period last year. Meanwhile, domestic enterprises gained 7billion USD, a slight surge of 0.7 percent.
The products of theFDI enterprises that earned large export values included electronics,computers and their components (2.12 billion USD, up 57.1 percent);telephones and components (4 billion USD, up 15.3 percent); other kindsof machines and equipment (1.11 billion USD, up 19.2 percent); andtextile and garments (3.41 billion USD, up 17.7 percent).
Several export products of domestic enterprises did not grow in exportvalue, including crude oil with an export value of 604 million USD, down40.9 percent; rice with 237 million USD, down 35.6 percent; seafoodwith 875 million USD, down 12.6 percent; and coffee with 511 millionUSD, down 16.4 percent; as well as rubber with 202 million USD, down 6.3percent.
Vietnam mainly imported goods for producing andassembling products for export. these imports were electronic products,computers and their components with a total import value of 3.27 billionUSD, up 31.9 percent; telephones and components with 1.51 billion USD,up 26.2 percent; cloth with 1.28 billion USD, up 12.6 percent; and steelwith 1.69 billion USD, up 15.6 percent.
Meanwhile, the value of petrol and oil imports fell 52.2 percent to reach 621 million USD.
Chinawas still the largest import market of Vietnam, compared with otherimport markets such as the Association of South-East Asian Nations, theRepublic of Korea, Japan and the European Union, besides the UnitedStates.-VNA
At the end of February, the trade deficit stood at 61million USD, much lower than the 361 million USD recorded in January, itsaid.
Le Thi Minh Thuy, head of GSO's commerce department, saidthat with the long Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday falling in February,enterprises had rushed to fulfill their export contracts.
This saw the export value soar to 9.6 billion USD, 300 million USD higher than February imports, she said.
This difference accounted for the fall in trade deficit for the first two months compared to just January, she added.
Inthe first two months, a year-on-year increase of 8.6 percent in exportvalue saw it reach 23.66 billion USD, against a corresponding surge of23.4 percent in import value pushed it to 23.05 billion USD.
Duringthe two months, foreign investment enterprises were the major exporterswith a total export value of 16 billion USD, 12.4 percent higher thanthe same period last year. Meanwhile, domestic enterprises gained 7billion USD, a slight surge of 0.7 percent.
The products of theFDI enterprises that earned large export values included electronics,computers and their components (2.12 billion USD, up 57.1 percent);telephones and components (4 billion USD, up 15.3 percent); other kindsof machines and equipment (1.11 billion USD, up 19.2 percent); andtextile and garments (3.41 billion USD, up 17.7 percent).
Several export products of domestic enterprises did not grow in exportvalue, including crude oil with an export value of 604 million USD, down40.9 percent; rice with 237 million USD, down 35.6 percent; seafoodwith 875 million USD, down 12.6 percent; and coffee with 511 millionUSD, down 16.4 percent; as well as rubber with 202 million USD, down 6.3percent.
Vietnam mainly imported goods for producing andassembling products for export. these imports were electronic products,computers and their components with a total import value of 3.27 billionUSD, up 31.9 percent; telephones and components with 1.51 billion USD,up 26.2 percent; cloth with 1.28 billion USD, up 12.6 percent; and steelwith 1.69 billion USD, up 15.6 percent.
Meanwhile, the value of petrol and oil imports fell 52.2 percent to reach 621 million USD.
Chinawas still the largest import market of Vietnam, compared with otherimport markets such as the Association of South-East Asian Nations, theRepublic of Korea, Japan and the European Union, besides the UnitedStates.-VNA
