AsemconnectVietnam - Vietnam’s exports of goods to the two neighboring countries – Laos and Cambodia saw year – on – year growth in the first two months of this year, according to the statistics figures of the General Department of Customs.

In the period, the country’s exports of goods to Cambodia reached nearly 634 million USD while the exports to Laos reached over 97 million USD.

Vietnam’s exports to Cambodia increased by nearly 24 per cent in the first two months
According to the figures from the General Department of Customs, the total export turnover of Vietnam to Cambodia reached 258.38 million USD in February, and over 633.68 million USD in the first two months, up by 23.6 per cent over the same period last year.
By the end of February, the country’s imports of goods from Cambodia reached 268.02 million USD, up by 41.3 per cent, so Vietnam got 365.67 million USD of surplus in trade exchange with Cambodia, increased by 13.2 per cent compared to the same period in 2018.

Main items exported by Vietnam to Cambodia in the first two months of 2019
Iron and steel was the leading item exported to Cambodia. The export turnover of this commodity reached 76.15 million USD in February of 2019, increasing the total export turnover of this commodity in the first 2 months of 2019 to 171.02 million USD, up by 62.5 per cent over the same period last year and accounting for nearly 27 per cent of the total export value of Vietnamese goods to this market.

Meanwhile, the exports of textile and garment products to Cambodia in February reached 30.12 million USD, increasing the export turnover of textiles and garments in the first 2 months of 2019 to 86.02 million USD, up by 56.2 per cent over the same period last year and accounting for 13.6 per cent of the total value of Vietnamese goods exported to Cambodia.

Petroleum exports in February 2019 reached 33.06 million USD, bringing the export value of petroleum in the first 2 months of 2019 to 79.73 million USD, up by 31.2 per cent over the same period last year and accounting for 12.6 per cent of the total turnover.
The country’s exports of textile, garment, leather and footwear materials reached 14.99 million USD in February and 41.86 million USD in the first two months of this year, up by 3.9 per cent and accounted for 6.6 per cent of the total turnover.

Vietnam’s exports of almost all items to Cambodia in the first 2 months of the year saw a rise in turnover compared to the first 2 months of 2018; in which, the exports of plastic materials were up by 99.8 per cent to 3.06 million USD; chemicals increased by 91.2 per cent to 4.02 million USD; textiles and garments - increased by 56.2 per cent to 86.02 million USD; paper and paper products increased by 51.6 per cent to 13.07 million USD.
In contrast, the exports of telephones and components decreased by 99.6 per cent to 0.04 million USD; glass and glass products decreased by 71 per cent to 0.07 million USD and fertilizer decreased by 48.5 per cent to 9.62 million USD.

Vietnam’s exports of goods to Laos increased by over 20 per cent in first 2 months
In the first 2 months of 2019, Vietnam’s exports of goods to Laos reached 97.4 million USD, up by 20.26 per cent over the same period last year. In February of 2019, the country’s exports of goods to Laos reached 40.6 million USD, decreased by 28.77 per cent compared to January 2019 but increased by 43.12 per cent compared to February 2018.

In contrast, Vietnam also imported 30.73 million USD worth of goods from Laos in February, down by 29.58 per cent compared to January 2019 but increased by 19.25 per cent compared to February 2018. The figure of the first 2 months reached 74.3 million USD, up by 4.79 per cent over the same period last year.
So in the first 2 months of 2019, Vietnam got over 2 million USD of surplus in trade exchange with Laos, increased by 2.3 times (ie, 128.17 per cent) compared to the first 2 months of 2018.

In 2018, the two-way trade exchange between Vietnam and Laos reached over 1 billion USD, increasing by 14 per cent compared to 2017. Of the figure, Laos exported over 723 million USD worth of goods to and imported more than 552 million USD worth of goods from Vietnam.
Last year, the main products exported by Laos to Vietnam were drinking water, mineral water, wood products, agricultural products such as rubber, coffee, corn, cassava, rice and livestock. Vietnam is now the third-largest trading partner of Laos after Thailand and China. Laos is a country where Vietnamese enterprises invest the largest proportion with 81.5 per cent, accounting for 18.9 per cent of the total investment capital. Vietnam has invested in 409 projects in Laos worth more than 4 billion USD, mainly hydropower, mining, transportation, industrial crops and services, playing an important role in the development of both countries.

Leading items exported by Vietnam to Laos in the first two months of 2019
In the first two months of 2019, Vietnam exported to Laos mainly petroleum products, iron and steel, means of transport, iron and steel products - the items with high turnover, and accounted for 40,84 per cent of the proportion, in which gasoline reached the highest level of 12.8 million USD, but decreased by 7.119 per cent compared with the same period last year, although the export volume increased by 2.57 per cent to 22,000 tons. The average export price decreased by 9.51 per cent, equivalent to 583.61 USD per ton.

Notably, in the first 2 months of this year, Laos increased the imports of textile and garment products from Vietnam, though the import value only reached over 1 million USD, but increased by 2.4 times or 143.76 per cent compared to the same period last year. In the opposite direction, Laos strongly reduced imports of non –wooden furniture, with the import value of 68,800 USD, decreased sharply by 70.88 per cent.
CK
Source: VITIC