Foreign trade may hit record of US$780 billion in 2022

Surmounting difficulties to boost economic recovery, Việt Nam is expected to post a foreign trade record of US$780 billion in 2022.

Economic experts described the export and import panorama as highly positive, as two more groups of commodities – transport vehicles and spare parts, and fishery products – have seen 11-month export value of over $10 billion, while imports of materials for manufacturing have also surged.

By the end of November, exports and imports totalled $673.82 billion, higher than the $668.54 billion for the whole 2021. Trade surplus stood at $10.6 billion, compared to the $0.6 billion in the same period last year, according to the General Statistics Office.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said China’s rice imports have shifted from low to high volume in the year-end period. Some EU countries also tend to import more rice to replace the wheat supply decline caused by the Russia - Ukraine conflict.

This has helped raise Vietnamese rice prices to $480 per tonne, $13 - 28 higher than Thai rice and $60 - 65 higher than the Indian grain, thus substantially contributing to this year’s export growth.

Besides, products of the processing and manufacturing industry have also enjoyed growth of 6 - 39.9 per cent in overseas shipments, helping turn export into a “bright spot” of the economy in 2022.

Assoc. Prof. and Dr. Nguyễn Thường Lạng from the Hà Nội-based National Economics University predicted that although export growth has slowed down slightly compared to the whole-year pace, foreign trade turnover will hit a record of about $780 billion in 2022.

This is a stepping stone for Việt Nam to achieve $1 trillion in trade revenue by 2025, he added.

Vũ Tuấn Anh, President of the Junior Chamber International Việt Nam, held that foreign direct investment remains the key driver of foreign trade. Meanwhile, processed and manufactured items are still key commodities, aside from textile-garment and agro-forestry-fishery products, of which timber, wood items, seafood, coffee, rubber, cassava, rice, vegetables, and fruit have generated a high trade surplus.

$10.6 billion trade surplus in 11 months

Việt Nam recorded a trade surplus of $10.6 billion in the January-November period, the General Statistics Office announced on Tuesday.

In November, the import-export turnover is estimated at $57.58 billion, down 1.2 per cent month-on-month and 7.8 per cent year-on-year, bringing the total value in the first 11 months to $673.8 billion, up 11.8 per cent year-on-year.

In the period under review, the export revenue is estimated at $342.2 billion, up 13.4 per cent y-o-y, and import at $331.6 billion, up 10.1 per cent.

Thirty-five commodities report an export turnover of more than $1 billion each, with eight surpassing the $10-billion- mark, accounting for 93.7 per cent and 70.1 per cent of the total, respectively.

Forty-five products saw an import value of over $1 billion, and six over $10 billion, making up 93.2 per cent and 52.3 per cent of the total, respectively.

The US is Việt Nam’s biggest importer in the period, with a turnover estimated at $101.5 billion, while China is the country’s largest exporter, with $109.9 billion.

In the period, Việt Nam also recorded a trade surplus of $29.4 billion with the European Union, and a trade deficit of $56.9 billion with China.

To promote exports, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Đỗ Thắng Hải said that in the last month, the ministry will focus on supporting businesses in finding alternative suppliers of raw materials with suitable prices to ensure sufficient raw materials and fuel for production and consumption, and to make good use of signed free trade agreements to speed up production and export.

The facilitation of administrative procedures for enterprises will be further promoted through the application of digitalisation, typically in tax refunds, import and export customs, and issuance of the Certificate of Origin.