Vietnam FDI sector posts $43.49 bln trade surplus in 11 months

Foreign-invested enterprises in Vietnam recorded a trade surplus of $43.49 billion in the year to November 15, according to the General Statistics Office.

Vietnam’s import-export turnover fell 9% year-on-year to $587.68 billion in the period. While export revenues fell 6.4% year-on-year to $306.06 billion, imports dropped 11.7% to $281.62 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $24.44 billion, tripling year-on-year.

The FDI sector recorded export revenues of $224.57 billion, down 7.7% year-on-year, accounting for 73.4% of the national total; while spending $181.08 billion on importing goods, down 12.7%, or 64.3% of the total.

As a result, the FDI sector posted a trade surplus of $43.49 billion, while the domestic sector had a trade deficit of $19.05 billion.

Vietnam’s key exports in the period included electronics, computers and components worth $48.94 billion, up 1.2% year-on-year; mobile phones and components worth $46.23 billion, down 12.4%; machinery and equipment worth $37.22 billion, down 7%; apparel-textiles worth $28.96 billion, down 12.7%; and footwear worth $17.36 billion, down 17.7%.

Products from the manufacturing-processing industry accounted for $270.45 billion of export revenue at 88.4% of the total; followed by farm produce and forestry goods at $24.02 billion (7.8%); fisheries at $7.82 billion (2.6%); and fuel and natural resources at $3.76 billion (1.2%).

The nation’s main imports were electronics, computers and components worth $75.58 billion, up 3% year-on-year; followed by machinery and equipment worth $35.78 billion, down 10.1%; fabric worth $11.3 billion, down 13.7%; steel-iron worth $8.98 billion, down 16.8%; and plastics worth $8.12 billion, down 24.1%.

Materials for production accounted for $264.13 billion, or 93.8% of total imports. The remaining 6.2%, or $17.49 billion, was spent on consumer goods.