Recently-released statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs show that the country raked in US$10.95 billion during the first half of March, with many export staples enjoying a sharp increase in value.

The figure helped to lift the country’s total turnover of exports to US$47.05 billion by March 15, an on-year rise of 5.4 per cent.

A number of exports recorded a strong rise in value across the reviewed period. They include telephones and components, garments and textiles, computers, electronic items and components, wood and wooden products, and means of transport and spare parts.

Meanwhile, imports reached a total of US$21.3 billion during the first half of March, bringing the total import value to US$93.6 billion by March 15. The figure edged up to US$100 billion by March 19, a surge of 6.3 per cent on year.

With these figures, Vietnam recorded a trade surplus of US$0.5 billion between January and March 15.