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| Gemalink deep-sea container port in the southern province of Ba Ria - Vung Tau. (Photo: VNA) |
In the reviewed period, the country’s trade turnover reached over 511 billion USD, up 16.7% over the same period last year, with exports totaling 265 billion USD and imports 246 billion USD, up 15.8% and 17.7% year-on-year, respectively.
Of the export value, that from the domestic sector reached 73.88 billion USD, accounting for 27.9%; and the foreign-invested sector (including crude oil) 72.1%.
In the first eight months, Vietnam had 30 items with export turnover of over 1 billion USD, making up 92.3% of the total export turnover. Particularly, six posted a turnover of over 10 billion USD, accounting for 62.6% of the country's total figure.
Meanwhile, regarding the import value, the domestic sector saw a rise of 19.7% to 89.58 billion and the foreign-invested sector 16.9% to 156.44 billion USD.
In August alone, the trade value reached 70.65 billion USD, up 0.8% month-on-month and 13.5 over the same period last year. Of the figure, exports were worth 37.59 billion USD, an increase of 3.7% against July while imports dropped 2.4% month on month to 33.06 billion USD.
The US is Vietnam's largest importer with a revenue of 77.9 billion USD, while China is the country's largest exporter with 92.3 billion USD.
Former GSO Director Nguyen Bich Lam said that if Vietnam’s exports keep increasing month over month in the remaining four months of 2024, its total export turnover of goods this year is estimated to set a new record of 400 billion USD, far exceeding the historical milestone of 371.82 billion USD made in 2022.
Disbursed FDI in Jan-Aug hits five-year high
About 14.15 billion USD worth of foreign direct investment (FDI) was disbursed in the first eight months of this year, up 8% year-on-year, marking the highest for an eight-month period over the past five years
This was reported by Vietnam News Agency based on statistics from the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
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| Korean-invested Khvatec Thai Nguyen Company Limited at Yen Binh Industrial Park, Pho Yen city, Thai Nguyen province (Photo: VNA) |
During the reviewed period, Vietnam saw a total of 20.52 billion USD in registered FDI capital, an increase of 7% against the same period last year.
Of the total, nearly 12 billion USD was registered for 2,247 new projects, up 27% in value and 8.5% in the project number. Additional capital for 926 existing projects topped 5.7 billion USD, up 4.9% and 14.8%, respectively. Meanwhile, foreign investment through contributing capital to and buying stakes of local firms decreased by 40.9% to nearly 2.81 billion USD.
Foreign investors poured money into 18 out of the 21 national economic sectors, of which the manufacturing and processing industry led with nearly 14.17 billion USD, accounting for over 69% of the total registered and marking a 7.4% increase from a year earlier. It was followed by real estate (3.36 billion USD), and the wholesale and retail sector (844.9 million USD).
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| Disbursed FDI in Jan-Aug hits five-year high. (Photo: VNA) |
Among the 94 countries and territories investing in Vietnam during January-August, Singapore topped with over 6.79 billion USD while Hong Kong (China) ranked second with 2.4 billion USD, surging 75.5% and 43.7% year-on-year, respectively.
The northern province of Bac Ninh was the largest FDI recipient with nearly 3.47 billion USD, representing 16.9% of the total and a 2.94-fold surge compared to the same period last year. It was followed by the northern province of Quang Ninh and Ho Chi Minh City, with nearly 1.78 billion USD and over 1.76 billion USD, respectively.
As of August 31, there had been 41,142 valid FDI projects worth 491.39 billion USD in Vietnam, of which approximately 311.33 billion USD had been disbursed.
Vietnam bags two golds at 36th International Olympiad in Informatics
All the four Vietnamese students who participated in the 36th International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI 2024) have won prizes, bringing home two golds, one silver and one bronze, reported Vietnam News Agency according to information from the Ministry of Education and Training on September 6.
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| The Vietnamese students claim two golds, one silver and one bronze at the 36th International Olympiad in Informatics hosted by Egypt from September 1-6. (Photo: VNA) |
They are from the High School for the Gifted of the Hanoi University of Science (HUS) under the Vietnam National University, Hanoi. The gold medals were awarded to Pham Cong Minh and Hoang Xuan Bach. Nguyen Huu Tuan claimed a silver while Pham Ngoc Trung took a bronze.
With the results, Vietnam came fourth among participating countries and territories after the US, Japan, and Poland.
The competition, which took place in Alexandria, Egypt from September 1-6, drew 353 students from 91 countries and territories.
At last year’s competition, the Vietnamese team was placed in the top nine, with one gold, two silvers and one bronze.
Vietnamese team finishes Paris Paralympics with one bronze
The Vietnamese team ended its participation in the 2024 Paris Paralympics after all athletes completed their events on September 6 with Le Van Cong's powerlifting bronze was the only medal won, reported Vietnam News Agency.
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| Chau Hoang Tuyet Loan competes in the women's powerlifting 55kg category during the Paris Paralympics on September 5. She was the last Vietnamese competitor at the event. (Photo: AFP/VNA) |
The last athlete Chau Hoang Tuyet Loan finished fifth in the women's 55kg powerlifting with a best result of 96kg after her second attempt. She tried to take 99kg in the last lift but did not succeed.
Rehab Ahmed of Egypt (121kg), Besra Duman of Turkey (113kg) and Kamolpan Kraratpet of Thailand (108kg) took top-three positions, respectively.
Earlier, Loan's teammate Dang Thi Linh Phuong in her 50kg class was expected to at least repeat her record of a bronze that she took at the Rio Paralympics in 2016 or a silver as she did at the world championship in 2017. However, competing against seven strong rivals, she could not perform her best.
Her result was recorded at 98kg in the second attempt after a lift of 103kg in the last one was not recognised.
She finished eighth. Venezuelan Clara Sarahy took gold with a lift of 124kg which is a new Paralympic record. Chinese Xiao Jinping (119kg) and Britain's Olivia Broome (119kg) were second and third, respectively.
Lifter Nguyen Binh An also failed in the men's 54kg. The SEA Games champion registered 168kg in his first attempt but it was called 'No Lift'. He suffered shoulder injury and withdrew.
Runner Pham Nguyen Khanh Minh, the youngest member of the Vietnamese team, took part in the men's 400m T12 heat on September 4. He finished third in the second heat in a time of 51.28sec, setting his seasonal best. But it was not enough to qualify for the finals.
Two swimmers of Vietnam also failed to take top three in their men's 100m breaststroke SB5 event. Le Tien Dat and Do Thanh Hai placed fourth and fifth, respectively.
After eight days of competitions, lifter Cong is the most successful competitor of Vietnam as he won a bronze in the men's 49kg class.
Although his score of 171kg was far below his world record of 183.5kg Cong's achievement was praised as he competed with a long-time shoulder injury.
The former world and Paralympic champion posted on Facebook: "I won bronze for Vietnam at the Paris Paralympics. This result is worse than a silver at the Tokyo and a gold at the Rio but this is the most meaningful one for me.
"In this competition, I not only lifted the barbell and was against strong rivals but also faced my own injury which was the biggest challenge that I had to overcome to step on the podium. A bronze is a great consolation for me."
His injury affected Cong after the first lift of 171kg but he still tried to increase the weight to 176kg in the second and 181kg in the third attempt. He failed in both and the injury became more serious.
Cong, the first Vietnamese sportsman who made Paralympic medal hattrick, said he would spend time to treat his injury and come back stronger to bring more achievement for Vietnam in the future.
Currently, China still dominate the medal tally with 74 golds. The UK is second with 36 gold and the US third with 27. The 17th Paralympics will close on September 9./.