Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam’s export value isexpected to rise in the coming months thanks to China’s increase in imports,strong measures taken by the Vietnamese Government, ministries, agencies, andbusinesses, and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

Economist Ngo Tri Long said China - Vietnam’s largestmarket - has begun to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and Vietnam’s Ministry ofIndustry and Trade has worked to remove obstacles to trade at border gates withChina that have huge demand for food and fruit and vegetables.

This represents a great opportunity for Vietnam tostep up exports to its northern neighbour, he said.

Customs figures show that in the first quarter of thisyear, Vietnam’s export to China reached 9.3 billion USD, up 22.8 percentyear-on-year and making up 14.8 percent of its total export value.

Experts have suggested putting in place measures tosupport businesses in the two countries as soon as possible, thus promotingbilateral trade and investment ties.

The EVFTA, set to come into force in July, is expectedto help boost Vietnam’s production and exports.

If the EU can bring COVID-19 under control in thesecond quarter and resume production in the third and fourth, the agreement willopen the door for sought-after Vietnamese goods like garments and textiles,footwear, timber products, phones, and electric components to enter the market.

Figures from the General Statistics Office (GSO) revealthat Vietnam’s total export revenue in the first quarter was 59.08 billion USD,up just 0.5 percent, while imports totalled 56.26 billion USD, down 19 percent.

The country therefore posted a trade surplus of 2.8billion USD compared to the 1.5 billion USD in the first quarter of last year.

According to Bui Trong Tu, Deputy Director of theDepartment of Trade and Services Statistics at the GSO, most of the orders forVietnam from the US and the EU have been suspended due to the pandemic.


Many major importers from the two markets havesuggested Vietnamese garment and textile as well as leather and footwearexporters suspend the handover of goods and the signing of new contracts, orperhaps even cancel them.

The number of orders for those kinds of products fromthe US and the EU are forecast to fall sharply in April and May.

According to Dien Quang Hiep, President of the BinhDuong Furniture Association (BIFA), most of its members have faced difficultiesin the two markets.

Meanwhile, Vietnam’s exports to Southeast Asia hit 6.3billion USD, a year-on-year rise of 0.99 percent and accounting for 10 percentof the country’s total export turnover.

Agro-fishery exports to ASEAN expanded 16.5 percentyear-on-year to 720.3 million USD.

Vietnam has benefited from the ASEAN Trade in GoodsAgreement (ATIGA), which has a zero percent tariff on most of the products.

The presence of Vietnamese banks in markets such as Myanmar,Cambodia, and Laos has also facilitated payments./.