FDI sector in Vietnam records $10.84 bln trade surplus in Q1

Foreign-invested companies in Vietnam recorded trade turnover of $108.98 billion, including crude oil, and trade surplus of $10.84 billion in the first quarter of this year, the General Statistics Office announced Wednesday.

Vietnam’s import-export turnover dropped 13.3% year-on-year to $154.27 billion in Q1, with trade surplus reaching $4.07 billion, doubling that of $1.9 billion in Q1/2022.

The country recorded an export revenue of $79.17 billion, down 11.9% year-on-year; while import expenditure fell 14.7% to $75.1 billion.

The foreign-invested sector accounted for $59.91 billion of export revenue, including crude oil, down 10% year-on-year, equivalent to 75.7% of the total.

The domestic sector recorded an export revenue of $19.26 billion, down 17.4%, accounting for 24.3% of the total.

As for imports, the foreign-invested sector recorded expenditure of $49.07 billion, down 15.4% year-on-year, accounting for 65.34% of the total. The domestic sector spent $26.03 billion on importing goods, down 13.3%.

Overall, the foreign-invested sector posted a trade surplus of $10.84 billion, including crude oil, while the domestic sector made a trade deficit of $6.77 billion.

In Q1/2023, Vietnam’s key exports were mobile phones and components worth $13 billion, down 15% year-on-year; followed by electronics, computers and components worth $11.81 billion, down 10.9%; machinery and equipment worth $9.78 billion, down 3.7%; and apparel-textile worth $7.2 billion, down 17.4%.

Products of the manufacturing-processing industry accounted for $70.24 billion, or the biggest portion of 88.7% of the total; followed by farm produce and forestry goods worth $6.07 billion, or 7.7%; fisheries worth $1.79 billion, or 2.3%; and fuel and natural resources worth $1.07 billion, or 1.3%.

The Southeast Asian country’s core imports were electronics, computers and components worth $19.21 billion, down 12.4% year-on-year; followed by machinery and equipment worth $9.02 billion, down 15.4%; cloths worth $3.06 billion, down 15.1%; and petroleum and oil worth $2.3 billion, down 5.8%.

Materials for production accounted for $70.22 billion, also the biggest portion of 93.5% of import expenditure. Meanwhile, the country spent $4.88 billion on importing goods for consumption, or 6.5% of the total.

In the three months, China, the U.S., and ASEAN were Vietnam’s biggest trade partners with turnovers of $35.1 billion, $23.7 billion, and $18.6 billion, respectively. Other top trading partners were South Korea, the EU, and Japan at $18.1 billion, $13.7 billion, and $11 billion, respectively.

China remained the biggest import market for Vietnam at $23.6 billion, while the U.S. was the biggest export destination at $20.6 billion.