Former senior economist of General Statistics Office Vietnam is on pace
to record an annual trade surplus for the first time in 20 years.
Vietnam’s expanding trade in the
first nine months of 2012 is a bright spot amid the economic gloom, registering
a trade surplus of $34 million. That figure, while a small fraction of overall
trade, represents a dramatic change after two decades of trade deficits, which
has reached multi-billion-dollar levels in recent years. Vietnam’s annual trade
deficits from 2007 through 2010 exceeded $10 billion, with a peak of $18
billion in 2008. In 2011, the deficit was $9.8 billion.
Over the first nine months of
2012, Vietnam’s export values hit $83.8 billion, an 18.9 per cent increase over
the same period of 2011, and the strongest growth among various economic
metrics. The total also exceeded the entire 2010 export value $72.1 billion, as
well as the $57.1 billion and $62.7 billion marks, respectively for 2009 and
2008. The total export value for 2012 is projected to reach $112 billion, which
is higher than the state target and would eclipse the previous record of $96.9
billion.
Among the products leading the
export growth in the last nine months are phone handsets of all types and
components, computers, electronic products and components, electric and cable
wires, fertilisers, and vehicles and auto parts. Twenty groups of products
recorded an export value of at least $1 billion, led by garments and textiles
at $11.25 billion. Phone handsets and components ranked second at $8.55
billion, while the figure for crude oil was $6.34 billion and for computers,
electronics and parts was $5.36 billion.
Within the first eight months of
2012, 27 countries and territories recorded at least $500 million worth of
imports from Vietnam, and 21 at least $1 billion. Exports to the US led the way
with a value of $13 billion, followed by Japan ($8.7 billion), China ($8.4
billion), South Korea ($3.5 billion), Malaysia ($2.9 billion), Germany ($2.6
billion), Hong Kong ($2.2 billion) and Cambodia ($1.9 billion).
Agro-forestry and seafood exports
also harvested positive results with huge trade surpluses.
These articles’ export values
accounted for nearly 25 per cent of the total export value with the values of
five products hitting at least $1 billion, led by rice. Data shows that rice
exports reached 5.9 million tonnes in the year to September 15, as China became
Vietnam’s largest rice customer with 1.57 million tonnes.
The trade surplus helped increase
foreign exchange reserves, improve the balance of payment and stabilise the
VND/USD exchange rate. In the first nine months, the value of the US dollar decreased
0.94 per cent against the dong.
Vietnam still has insufficient
supporting industries and mostly exports raw materials or low value-added
goods. Such raw materials as crude oil, coal, minerals and ores accounted for
nearly 10 per cent of the total export value, while unprocessed or
semi-processed agro materials accounted for 20 per cent. Vietnam’s imports of
machines, equipment and parts was $10.78 billion, with China account for nearly
one-third of the goods. Meanwhile, abusing temporary imports for re-exporting
remains rampant.
The low import growth during
January-September was partly due to shrinking import demand for production and
consumption.
Minh Nhung | vir.com.vn
Business & Investment Opportunities
YourVietnamExpert is a division of Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd, Incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Strategy, Investment and Management, focusing Healthcare and Life Science with expertise in ASEAN. Since we are currently changing the platform of www.yourvietnamexpert.com, you may contact us at: sbc.pte@gmail.com, provisionally. Many thanks.
No comments:
Post a Comment