Vietnam's trade turnover poised to hit 800 billion USD mark

Vietnam’s import-export value is likely to touch the 800 billion USD mark by year-end, far exceeding a record of 732 billion USD seen in 2022, economic expert Dinh Trong Thinh has said.

Thinh attributed his prediction to the fact that the country's trade activities have achieved many positive results with high growth recorded in major markets such as the US, the EU, Japan and the Republic of Korea.

In addition, the business community has been determined to boost export growth in the last quarter of the year, taking full advantage of the new generation free trade agreements (FTAs), he told baocongthuong.vn.

He added that the demand of import markets has been increasing thanks to many major festivals. That will facilitate Vietnam's exports, especially textiles and garments, footwear, electronics, agroforestry and fisheries in the fourth quarter.

Sharing Thinh's opinion, Chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) Vu Duc Giang said exports of garments and textiles are expected to bring in more than 4 billion USD each month for the rest of the year, pushing the total revenue in the whole year to more than 41 billion USD.

Meanwhile, General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association (Vinafruit) Dang Phuc Nguyen said horticultural exports this year are likely to reach a new milestone of 7 billion USD, thanks to the growth of major markets such as China, the US and the RoK.

The nation's trade turnover saw a yearly rise of 16%, to 578 billion in nine months, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

During the period, exports hit 299.63 billion USD, up 15.4% over the same period last year, the GSO said, adding that seven groups of goods posted a turnover of over 10 billion USD each.

They included machinery, equipment, tools, spare parts, phones and components, computers, electronic products and components, footwear, garments, wood and furniture products, transport vehicles and spare parts.

The US remained Vietnam's largest export market with a revenue of nearly 90 billion USD, with Vietnam enjoying a trade surplus of 78.5 billion USD.

Meanwhile, the import value topped 279 billion USD in the first nine months, surging 17% year-on-year, with 178 billion USD from the foreign-invested sector. There were 40 kinds of goods posting an import value of over 1 billion USD each, accounting for 91.5% of the total import turnover.

China was the biggest supplier of Vietnam with a value of 105 billion USD, resulting in a trade deficit of more than 61 billion USD for Vietnam.

Overall, Vietnam posted a trade surplus of 20.79 billion USD from January to September, lower than 22.1 billion USD recorded in the same period last year.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, efforts will be made to strengthen trade with major markets, especially those already having FTAs with Vietnam.

The ministry will work hard to speed up negotiations, signing and ratification of FTAs and form new economic links with more markets, initially Israel and the UAE, diversifying trade links and supply chains.