Vietnam maintained its upwards trend in exports at a time when COVID-19 has ravaged international trade, with year-on-year growth of 4.2 percent posted in the first nine months of 2020, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).
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| A tea processing factory in Thanh Son district of Phu Tho province__Photo: VNA |
At a press conference in Hanoi on September 29, GSO General Director Nguyen Thi Huong said total trade revenue reached USD 388.73 billion between January and September, up 1.8 percent year-on-year.
Exports were estimated at USD 202.86 billion, up 4.2 percent.
The domestic sector remained a driver of export growth, as it earned USD 71.8 billion from shipments, up 20.2 percent and accounting for 35.4 percent of total exports. Meanwhile, the foreign-invested sector raked in USD 131 billion, including crude oil sales, down 2.9 percent and making up 64.6 percent of the total.
Thirty commodities posted export revenue of more than USD 1 billion, accounting for 91.3 percent of total exports. Five saw over USD 10 billion in turnover each, accounting for 59.8 percent, the GSO reported.
Meanwhile, imports declined 0.8 percent year-on-year in the first nine months to USD 185.87 billion, including USD 82.3 billion imported by the domestic sector (up 4.7 percent) and USD 103.5 billion by the foreign-invested sector (down 4.8 percent).
Thirty-two commodities posted over USD 1 billion in import value each, or 88.3 percent of total imports.
The country posted a trade surplus of USD 16.9 billion in January-September, compared to a surplus of USD 7.27 billion in the same period last year, with domestic businesses posting a deficit of USD 10.52 billion and foreign-invested enterprises a surplus of USD 27.5 billion (including crude oil).
In September alone, exports declined 0.7 percent month-on-month to USD 27.5 billion while imports increased 5.6 percent to USD 24 billion, for a surplus of USD 3.5 billion.
The figures rose 11 percent and 3 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, to USD 80 billion and USD 68.5 billion, respectively.- (VNA/VLLF)
