Vietnam FDI sector posts $22 bln H1 trade surplus

Foreign-invested companies in Vietnam recorded a trade turnover of $220.2 billion, including crude oil, for a trade surplus of $22.06 billion in the first half of this year, according to the General Statistics Office.

Overall, Vietnam’s export-import turnover dropped 15.2% year-on-year to $316.65 billion in the six-month period. The country recorded export revenues of $164.45 billion, down 12.1%, while import expenditures fell 18.2% to $152.2 billion. This made for a trade surplus of $12.25 billion, 10 times the $1.2 billion recorded in the same period last year.

The foreign-invested sector accounted for 73.6% of the total export revenues (including crude oil) at $121.04 billion, down 12.2% year-on-year. The domestic sector’s export revenue of $43.41 billion, 26.3% of the total, was down 11.9% year-on-year.

The foreign-invested sector also led import expenditures in the first six months at $98.98 billion, down 17.8% year-on-year. The domestic sector, meanwhile, spent $53.22 billion, down 19%.

Overall, the foreign-invested sector posted a trade surplus of $22.06 billion, including crude oil; while the domestic sector had a trade deficit of $9.81 billion.

Vietnam’s key exports in the first half of the year included electronics, computers and components worth $25.21 billion, down 9.3% year-on-year; mobile phones and components worth $24.29 billion, down 17.9%; machinery and equipment worth $19.73 billion, down 8.2%; apparel-textiles worth $15.75 billion, down 15.3%; and footwear worth $10 billion, down 15.2%.

Products of the manufacturing-processing industry accounted for $144.82 billion of export revenues at 88.1% of the total; followed by farm produce and forestry goods at $13.4 billion, or 8.1%; fisheries at $4.13 billion, or 2.5%; and fuel and natural resources at $2.1 billion, or 1.3%.

Vietnam’s core imports were electronics, computers and components worth $38.27 billion, down 11.4% year-on-year; followed by machinery and equipment worth $19.72 billion, down 12.3%; fabric worth $6.43 billion, down 19.2%; and steel-iron worth $4.72 billion, down 32.3%.

Materials for production accounted for $142.66 billion, or 93.7% of total import expenditure. The remaining 6.3%, or $9.54 billion, was spent on consumer goods.

In the first half of this year, China, the U.S., and ASEAN were Vietnam’s biggest trade partners with turnovers of $75.7 billion, $51.2 billion and $36.6 billion, respectively. Other top trading partners were South Korea with $35.2 billion, the EU with $28.7 billion, and Japan with $20.8 billion.

China remained the biggest import market for Vietnam at $50.1 billion, while the U.S. was the biggest export destination at $44.2 billion.