In the first half of this year, the country’s imports of machines, equipment and spare parts increased by 37.8 per cent to US$ 18.4 billion ; cell phones and accessories and accessories - up by 29.5 per cent to $ 6.2 billion; cloth of all kinds – up by 10.1 per cent to $ 5.6 billion; iron and steel – up by 24.3 per cent to $ 4.7 billion; plastics – up by 24.6 per cent to $ 3.5 billion; petroleum – up by 31.4 per cent to $ 3.4 billion; textile, garment, leather and footwear materials – up by 9.5 per cent to $ 2.7 billion; other ordinary metals – up by 19.8 per cent to $ 2.7 billion; plastic products – up by 20.6 per cent to $ 2.5 billion; chemical products – up by 18.7 per cent to $ 2.1 billion; chemicals – up by 34.8 per cent to $ 2 billion; animal feed and materials – up by 15.5 per cent to $ 1.7 billion; drugs – up by 4 per cent to $ 1.3 billion; cotton – up by 58.6 per cent to $ 1.3 billion; wood and furniture – up by 21 per cent to $ 1.1 billion.

China was still the country’s biggest import market in the first half of this year with the import value of $ 27.1 billion, up by 16.8 per cent year – on – year. It was followed by South Korea with $ 22.5 billion, up by 51.2 per cent; ASEAN - $ 13.6 billion, up by 17.6 per cent; Japan - $ 7.7 billion, up by 10.7 per cent; EU - $ 5.8 billion, up by 16.3 per cent; and the U.S - $ 4.8 billion, up by 27.2 per cent.