Exports this year are seen rising 10.7 percent to $238 billion and imports could rise 11.3 percent to $237 billion, leaving a minimum trade surplus of $1 billion, the head of the Government Office, Mai Tien Dung, told reporters.

Vietnam reported a solid trade surplus of $5.39 billion in the first nine months of this year, while economic growth during the January-September period reached 6.98 percent year on year, a seven-year high, the government statistics office said last week.