According to a report from the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), production and business results improved in the first two months of the year but trade remained out of balance due to strong growth in auto and mobile phone imports.

Exports and imports grew 15.4 per cent and 19.6 per cent in value, to $27.3 billion and $27.4 billion, respectively.

State-owned enterprises contributed $7.6 billion to exports, up 12.2 per cent year-on-year, while foreign-invested enterprises contributed $19.7 billion, up 16.8 per cent.

The processing industry saw year-on-year growth of 15.5 per cent in export value, to $22 billion, accounting for 80.6 per cent of the total. Agriculture, forestry and fishery export value reached $3.2 billion, 9.9 per cent higher year-on-year and accounting for 11.4 per cent of the total.

The ministry noted that high export value growth in the first two months of the year is particularly significant given the relatively low 2.0 per cent growth during the same period last year and the failure to reach double-digit growth in 2016 as a whole. Average export prices increased sharply during the first two months, including for cashew nuts (by 20.3 per cent), coffee (31.9 per cent), crude oil (61.9 per cent), rubber (81 per cent) and coal (115.5 per cent). Export prices of agriculture, forestry and fishery products, meanwhile, fell.

Total export value rose $736 million, thanks to the increase in prices. Exports of textiles and garments in the first two months also rose, by 12.2 per cent year-on-year to $3.66 billion.

Le Tien Truong, general director of the Vietnam Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex), was quoted by local media as saying that many its businesses have secured stable long-term orders for the second quarter and beyond.

Total export value of textile and garments this year is expected to increase 6.5-7 per cent to $30 billion, he said, with the US and Japan being major markets.

The report also revealed that imports of certain products experienced strong growth during the first two months.

Import growth of products such as motor vehicles of less-than-nine-seats, mobile phones, and fruit and vegetables may impact the trade balance.

$153 million was spent on importing 9,500 complete-built-unit motor vehicles of less-than-nine-seats, a year-on-year increase of 139.6 per cent, while value surged 129 per cent for mobile phones and 129.8 per cent for fruit and vegetables.

These imports partly contributed to a 20 per cent increase in total import value in the first two months, reaching $27.4 billion.