AsemconnectVietnam - Vietnam posted a record trade surplus record high of 20.1 billion USD in the first 11 months of this year despite of the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

The GSO said the country’s total trade value in the first 11 months was estimated at 489.1 billion USD, a year-on-year rise of 3.5 percent. Export value reached 254.6 billion USD, up 5.3 percent and import value stood at 234.5 billion USD, up 1.5 percent.
In November alone, export turnover was 24.8 billion USD, down 9 percent from the previous month, but up 8.8 percent compared with the same month last year.
Between January and November, the domestic economic sector generated about 73 billion USD in export value, up 1.6 percent, making up 28.7 percent of the total. Meanwhile, the foreign-invested sector, including crude oil, recorded 181.6 billion USD, up 6.9 percent, accounting for 71.3 percent of the total.
Thirty-one groups of commodities joined the billion-dollar export product club, including 10 groups posting more than 10 billion USD.
The heavy and mining industry raked in 138 billion USD, up 9.2 percent year-on-year. The light and handicrafts industry had an export value of 90.2 billion USD, up 1.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the agro-forestry export value reduced slightly by 0.1 percent year-on-year to 18.7 billion USD and seafood export value plunged by 0.9 percent to 7.7 billion USD.
The US remained the largest export market of Vietnamese goods in the 11 months, with a turnover of 69.9 billion USD, up 25.7 percent year-on-year. It was followed by China, with 43.1 billion USD, up 16 percent; the EU, 32.2 billion USD, down 2.4 percent; ASEAN, 20.9 billion USD, down 10.6 percent; the Republic of Korea (RoK), 17.7 billion USD, down 2.7 percent; and Japan, 17.3 billion USD, down 6.5 percent.
The GSO also reported that total imports in November were estimated at 24.2 billion USD, down 0.5 percent month-on-month but up 13.4 percent year-on-year.
As many as 34 kinds of goods saw import turnover exceeding 1 billion USD, 89.4 percent of the total.
China remained Vietnam’s largest import source, with a revenue of 73.9 billion USD, up 7.9 percent against the same period last year.
It was followed by the RoK, with 42 billion USD, down 2.9 percent; ASEAN, 27.3 billion USD, down 6.9 percent; Japan, 18.6 billion USD, up 4.8 percent; the EU, 13.2 billion USD, up 4.3 percent; and the US, 12.6 billion USD, down 3.6 percent.

Total export and import turnover increased by 3.6% in the first 11 months of 2020
Vietnam’s total import-export turnover reached approximately US$490 billion during the past 11 months of the year, representing an annual increase of 3.6%, according to statistics released on December 3 by the General Department of Vietnam Customs.
Most notably, November alone witnessed the country’s total trade value decrease by 3.8% to US$49.62 billion from the previous month. Of the figure, exports fell by 7.8% to US$25.14 billion, while imports rose slightly by 0.7% to US$24.48 billion.
Overall, Vietnam grossed US$254.85 billion in export value over 11 months, representing a rise of 5.4%, while total import value increased by 1.6% to US$234.7 billion. The country therefore recorded a trade surplus of US$20.15 billion, double the figure recorded during the same period last year.
Despite enduring a slight decrease in November, Vietnam’s two-way trade has maintained positive growth throughout the initial 11 months of the year.

Vietnam tries to reach the goal of 41 billion USD in agro-forestry-fisheries exports
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has rolled out various measures to remove difficulties facing the export of agro-forestry-fisheries products and broaden markets, in order to fulfil the goal of earning at least 41 billion USD from the export of the products in 2020.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has rolled out various measures to remove difficulties facing the export of agro-forestry-fisheries products and broaden markets, in order to fulfil the goal of earning at least 41 billion USD from the export of the products in 2020.
According to the ministry, agro-forestry-fisheries export revenues reached 3.72 billion USD in November, raising the total revenue in the first 11 months of this year to 37.42 billion USD, up 2.4 percent over the same period of 2019.

Meanwhile, the country imported about 28.05 billion USD worth of agro-forestry-fisheries products in the period, resulting in a surplus of nearly 9.37 billion USD, up 10.9 percent year on year.
Specifically, export earnings of major farm produce were 16.76 billion USD, a drop of 0.5 percent, while that of livestock reached 297 million USD, a fall of 18.5 percent, fisheries nearly 7.75 billion USD, down 0.9 percent, and forestry products 11.65 billion USD, up 15 percent year on year.
In November, Vietnam shipped abroad 388,000 tonnes of rice for 207 million USD, raising the total rice export volume to 5.74 million tonnes, a fall of 2.2 percent, and value of 2.85 billion USD, up 10 percent year on year.
The Philippines was the largest market of Vietnamese rice with 33 percent of the total market share. Upturn was also seen in shipments to other markets such as Indonesia and China.
Meanwhile, the export value of wood and wooden furniture hit 1.1 billion USD in November, pushing the 11-month figure to 10.88 billion USD, up 14.1 percent compared to the same period last year. The US, Japan and China remained the three major markets in the period.

On the contrary, many farm produce suffered reduction in exports, including pepper corn with 11.4 percent, and fruit and vegetable 11.7 percent due to a strong decline in the Chinese market.
At the same time, fisheries export recorded slight decrease of 0.9 percent to 7.75 billion USD. The US, Japan, China and the Republic of Korea were the leading markets for the products.
To facilitate agro-forestry-fisheries exports, Nguyen Van Viet, head of the MARD’s Department of Planning, said that the ministry will coordinate with localities and trade associations as well as businesses to keep a close watch on the market development and seek solutions to remove difficulties of exporters in market, while stabilizing the supply for the year-end occasions.
The ministry will also work with relevant parties to implement measures to balance the trade and tackle difficulties in trade for exporters.
Along with updating businesses on policies of markets, especially the EU, China, the US, Japan and the Republic of Korea, the ministry will hold an online meeting with the General Customs of China to discuss measures to further open the market of both sides, and to facilitate quick customs clearance in border gates between the two countries.
CK
Source: VITIC/Vietnamplus.vn/VOV.VN/VNS.VN