Vietnam enjoyed a trade surplus of 683 million USD in the first four months of the year, according to head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Planning Department Nguyen Tien Vy, who was speaking at a televised meeting in Hanoi on May 5.
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Export activity (Photo: VNA)
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In April alone, the country fetched 12.2 billion USD from overseas shipments, down 0.6 percent from a month earlier. Of the figure, an estimated 7.5 billion USD was earned by foreign-invested firms, dropping 0.1 percent year-on-year. This generated a trade deficit of 400 million USD.
During the month, the industrial goods sector sustained a growth of nearly 19 percent, lower than 23 percent recorded in the past three months.
In the four months, farm produce, including rice, saw a fall in exporst due to intense competition, said Deputy Director of the Export-Import Department Phan Thi Dieu Ha.
According to Ha, over 1.7 million tonnes of rice brought home 765 million USD, down 18.2 percent in volume and around 17 percent in value.
To reach the goal of 132 billion USD from this year’s exports, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Le Duong Quang directed its departments and agencies to clear business bottlenecks, particularly in capital access, administrative procedures and market entry./.