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.

A truck passes through the Huu Nghi border gate in Lang Son province, northern Vietnam. Photo courtesy of Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.
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.
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