Vietnam reports an estimated trade deficit of 176 million USD in the first two months of the year. (Photo: vneconomy.vn)
The domestic economic sector posted a deficit of 3.94 billion USD while the foreign-invested sector (including crude oil) grossed a surplus of 3.76 billion USD.
The GSO said that total export revenue during January-February picked up 2.4 percent year-on-year to 36.92 billion USD despite the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, partly thanks to Samsung's export of its new mobile phone model S20.
Products with high export value included telephone and spare parts (6.9 billion USD, up 2.3 percent); electronic products, computers and components (5.4 billion USD, up 26.7 percent); machinery and equipment (3 billion USD, up 19.6 percent); and footwear (2.7 billion USD, up 3 percent).
Meanwhile, export revenue of several farm produce fell such as seafood (921 million USD, down 17.7 percent); coffee (497 million USD, decreasing 9.8 percent), vegetables and fruits (481 million USD, falling 17.4 percent); cashew nut (315 million USD, dwindling 19.3 percent); and pepper bean (81 million USD, dropping 18.8 percent). Rice is an exception, earning 372 million USD, up 20.5 percent.
The US remained the largest importer of Vietnam, splashing 9.8 billion USD on Vietnamese commodities, surging 19.6 percent from the same time last year.
Revenues from exports to China increased by 3.7 percent to 4.8 billion USD and to Japan by 8.9 percent to 3.2 billion USD) while the value of exports to the EU and ASEAN dropped by 7.7 percent to 5 billion USD), and 9.3 percent to 3.5 billion USD, respectively.
During the period, Vietnam’s import revenue inched up 2.4 percent to 37.1 billion USD, with high-value imports including electronic products, computers and spare parts (8.6 billion USD); equipment, tools and components (5.3 billion USD); and telephones and components (2.1 billion USD).
Vietnam imported 10 billion USD worth of products from China in the two months, falling 0.4 percent from a year ago. It spent 4.5 billion USD on goods from ASEAN, 2.8 billion USD on goods from Japan, 2.1 billion USD on EU products and 2.1 billion USD on US goods./.