Viet Nam’s trade turnover with African, Southwestern Asia markets reached US$ 8.7 billion since the beginning of the year, up 46.8% against the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Meanwhile, the country imported US$4.5 billion of goods from the regions, representing a year-on-year increase of 27.9%.
Of the total export value, shipment to Western Asia surged 68% to around US$4.8 billion. The UEA, Turkey and Saudi Arabia are the three largest importers of Viet Nam in the region.
Export revenue to South Asia went up 44.8% of which India took the lead with US$1.8 billion, followed by Bangladesh with US$ 372 million, and Pakistan with US$ 129 billion.
African countries imported US$ 1.4 billion of goods from Viet Nam, up 5.5% against the same period last year. Four gateway markets including South Africa, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Egypt helped Viet Nam earn export turnovers of US$554 million, US$204 million, US$188 million and US$166 million, respectively.
Viet Nam’s top export items include telephone, rubber, fiber, coffee, aquaculture and computers while key imports are petrol, breeding food, cotton and fiber.
The country imported US$371.4 million (up 45.6%) from Africa, US$ 2.2 billion (up 25%) from South Asia, and US$2 billion (up 28.4%) from West Asia./.