06 November 2023

According to the General Statistics Office, the import and export turnover of goods in October was estimated at 61.62 billion USD, up 4.1% over the previous month and up 5.6% over the same period last year.

Import and export maintained the momentum, trade surplus at a high level

The latest statistics of the General Statistics Office showed that the import and export turnover of goods in October was estimated at 61.62 billion USD, up 4.1% over the previous month and up 5.6% over the same period last year. Thus, import and export turnover has continued to increase continuously in recent months.

In the first 10 months of 2023, the total import and export turnover of goods reached 557.95 billion USD, down 9.6% over the same period last year, of which exports decreased by 7.1%; imports fell 12.3%. The trade balance of goods in the first 10 months of 2023 is estimated to have a trade surplus of 24.61 billion USD.

In particular, goods export turnover in October 2023 is estimated at 32.31 billion USD, up 5.3% over the previous month.  In the first 10 months of 2023, merchandise export turnover is estimated at 291.28 billion USD, down 7.1% over the same period last year. In which, the domestic economic sector reached 77.09 billion USD, down 4.1%, accounting for 26.5% of total export turnover; FDI sector (including crude oil) reached 214.19 billion USD, down 8.1%, accounting for 73.5%.

In the first 10 months of 2023, there are 33 items with export turnover of over 1 billion USD, accounting for 92.9% of total export turnover (there are 07 export items over 10 billion USD, accounting for 66.2%).

Regarding commodities, Ms. Le Hang - Communications Director of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP) said that seafood exports are showing many signs of prosperity. In 9 months of this year, Vietnam's seafood exports reached 6.6 billion USD, down 22.6% over the same period last year. Exports fell sharply in the first half of the year (-27%), from June, negative growth gradually narrowed, especially in September, export sales were only 5% lower than the same period. Therefore, the total seafood export turnover in the third quarter was only 12% lower than that of the third quarter of 2022 – also the least decrease in the first 3 quarters of the year.

Group 3 key export products of Vietnamese seafood including shrimp, pangasius and tuna all showed more positive signals in the third quarter, with the highest export turnover and the lowest negative growth since the beginning of the year.

Among major market blocks, the Middle East has been assessed as an attractive destination for Vietnamese businesses in the last 2 years, in the face of fluctuations in war, inflation, and energy price crisis. In the third quarter, this market block alone had a positive growth in seafood imports from Vietnam, with 2% over the same period in 2022, and accumulated in the first 9 months of 2023 also had the lowest decrease, down 8%.

Vegetables and fruits are also commodities with positive export turnover over recent years. According to statistics of the General Department of Customs, in the first half of October (October 1-15), fruit and vegetable exports earned 349.52 million USD, thereby raising the turnover from the beginning of the year to 15/10 to 4.56 billion USD, up 75.4% over the same period last year, equivalent to an increase of nearly 2 billion USD. The growth of fruits and vegetables has been greatly contributed by the recovery in many key markets, especially China.

According to Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen - General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, in the remaining months of 2023, while durians of other countries in Southeast Asia are out of season, Vietnam still has durian areas in the Central Highlands that have not been exploited. This will be a great opportunity for the largest export item of the fruit and vegetable industry to continue to increase turnover in the near future.

In the opposite direction, the import turnover of goods in October 2023 is estimated at 29.31 billion USD, up 2.9% over the previous month. In the first 10 months of 2023, the import turnover of goods is estimated at 266.67 billion USD, down 12.3% over the same period last year, of which the domestic economic sector reached 95.08 billion USD, down 10.3%; FDI sector reached 171.59 billion USD, down 13.3%.

In the first 10 months of 2023, there are 41 imported items worth over 1 billion USD, accounting for 91.4% of total import turnover (there are 03 imported items over 10 billion USD, accounting for 43.4%).

The trade balance of goods in October was estimated to have a trade surplus of 3 billion USD. In the first 10 months of 2023, the trade balance of goods is estimated to have a trade surplus of 24.61 billion USD (the same period last year had a trade surplus of 9.56 billion USD). In which, the domestic economic sector has a trade deficit of 17.99 billion USD; the foreign-invested sector (including crude oil) had a trade surplus of 42.6 billion USD.

Diversified solutions to promote exports

Recently, the Prime Minister signed Decision No. 1199/QD-TTg dated October 14, 2023 approving the border gate planning on the Vietnam-China land border in the period of 2021 - 2030 with a vision to 2050. The border gate planning on the Vietnam-China land border includes the following provinces: Quang Ninh, Lang Son, Cao Bang, Ha Giang, Lao Cai, Lai Chau, Dien Bien.

According to the Plan to 2030, the Vietnam-China border line has 26 border gates, including 14 international border gates, 12 bilateral border gates (including 20 customs clearances/dedicated roads for transporting goods belonging to pairs of international border gates, bilateral border gates) and 1 special opening/border gate.

The objectives of the Master Plan are to create favorable conditions for economic and trade development cooperation between Vietnam and China and through China to third countries in a regular, effective and sustainable manner. Thereby contributing to promoting bilateral trade between Vietnam and China in general and promoting the export of goods to China in particular.

On the part of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in the coming time, in order to promote import and export of goods, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is making efforts to promote negotiations and sign new agreements, commitments and trade links, including completing the implementation of FTA with Israel, signing FTA agreements.

Trade agreements with other potential partners (UAE, MERCOSUR ...) to diversify markets, products, supply chains.

In addition, supporting enterprises to take advantage of commitments in FTA agreements, especially the Agreements: CPTPP, EVFTA, UKVFTA to promote exports, through propaganda about rules of origin and issuance of Certificates of Origin, opportunities and ways to take advantage of opportunities from agreements.

Source: congthuong.vn