The total export value to Japan in the first seven months of 2012 reached nearly US $7.6 billion, a year-on-year increase of 39.31%, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Of the export items, crude oil ranked first in terms of export value with US$1.71 billion, up 134.82%, followed by garments US$1.03 billion, up 19.96%, and seafood up 25.31%.
Vietnam expects to earn US$6 billion from exports to the East Asian market in the next five months of this year.
Over the past years, Japan has been one of the biggest importers of Vietnam, particularly garments, footwear, aquaculture, timber, rubber, vegetables, tea and others.
Recently, rice export to Japan and the Republic of Korea began to rise, said Nguyen Van Tien, General Director of An Giang Import-Export Company.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Vietnam Food Association Truong Thanh Phong revealed that Japan and the Republic of Korea are potential markets for Vietnam’s rice in the future.