Vietnam recorded trade surplus for third consecutive year

Vietnam recorded a trade surplus for the third consecutive year, after recording surpluses of US$280 million in 2012 and more than US$860 million in 2013. This year it is touched US$2 billion according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

According to the GSO, foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises contributed to the majority of revenues of Vietnam’s key export products which includes garment and textile exports, accounts 59.4 percent of US$20.77 billion.

This year, overall export revenues hit US$150.42 billion, up 13.6 percent over last year, while total import values reached US$148.58 billion, a year-on-year increase of 12.1 percent.

Further, material imports served production for exports by the FDI sector more than that of domestic enterprises. These imports amounted to US$84.57 billion for foreign companies, compared with US$63.49 billion for local firms.

The GSO noted that Viet Nam witnessed an increasing deficit in trade with China, while China remained the largest exporter to Vietnam this year. The deficit for 2014 was US$28.90 billion, a rise of 21.8 percent from the figure recorded in 2013.

Vietnam’s imports from China reached US$43.70 billion, up 18.2 percent year-on-year, while its exports to this market were only US$14.8 billion, although crude oil exports increased 76.9 percent and textile fiber exports rose 40.3 percent there.