According to General Department of Customs, in the first half of 2024, Vietnam exported goods to Malaysia reaching 2.61 billion USD, up 5.8% over the same period last year.
Vietnam exported 39 main items to Malaysia, of which 6 export items reached over 100 million USD with a total of 1.49 billion USD, accounting for 57% of total export turnover of goods to this market.
Iron and steel are the items with the largest export turnover to Malaysia with 307 million USD, but compared to the same period, it decreased by 0.2%. While export turnover of iron and steel decreased, volume recorded an increase from 428,883 tonnes to 450,449 tonnes. The difference comes from a fact that average export price of iron and steel from Vietnam to this Southeast Asian country decreased by 5%, from 719 USD/tonne in the same period last year to 683.1 USD/tonne in the first half of 2024.
After iron and steel, computers, electronic products and components are the second largest export items with 277 million USD, down 12% compared to the same period last year. In third place is rice with 274 million USD, up 188% compared to the same period last year. This development is affected by growth in both volume and price. Specifically, amount of rice exported to Malaysia increased by 133% compared to the same period last year, reaching 461,555 tonnes. Average export price of rice also increased from 487 USD/tonne to 595 USD/tonne, an increase of 22% compared to the same period last year.
Other items in group worth over 100 million USD include phones and components with 246 million USD, up 14% over the same period last year; machinery, equipment, tools and other spare parts with 202 million USD, up 5% over the same period last year; chemical products with 189 million USD, down 42% over the same period last year.
In garment group, Vietnam exported textiles and garments to Malaysia with 77 million USD, up 8% over the same period last year; footwear with 55 million USD, up 10% over the same period last year; textile fibers with 15 million USD, down 7% over the same period last year.
In forestry group, wood and wood products were the items with the largest turnover with 75 million USD, up 11% over the same period last year; paper and paper products exported to Malaysia also earned 32 million USD, down 11% over the same period last year.
In agricultural and aquatic products group, in addition to rice, Vietnam also exported 19,605 tonnes of coffee to Malaysia, bringing in 79 million USD, up 105% over the same period last year in terms of turnover. Following were aquatic products with 51 million USD, down 15% over the same period last year; vegetables and fruits with 27 million USD, down slightly 0.3% over the same period last year; cassava and cassava products with 5.7 million USD, up 78% over the same period last year; pepper with 4.8 million USD, up 29% over the same period last year; tea with 2 million USD, up 42% over the same period last year. Of 39 main export items to Malaysia, 17 items had a decrease in turnover and 22 items increased in value compared to the same period last year. Chemicals were item with the highest growth in turnover, up 304% over the same period last year. In contrast, coal had the largest decrease of 99% compared to the same period last year.
Malaysia is a country with a highly open economy, actively participating in multilateral and bilateral free trade agreements and benefiting greatly from these agreements. This can be clearly seen through Malaysia's continuous trade surplus over the past many years. In addition, as a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural country, Malaysia's economy is diverse, with many market segments that are culturally and religiously different but coexist and complement each other. Consumer characteristics are generally similar to Vietnam, however, requirement for Halal (products legal for use according to Islamic law) is the biggest difference that needs to be noted.
From above-mentioned characteristics, it can be seen that trade between Vietnam and Malaysia has many advantages. Firstly, Malaysia is a market with good purchasing power, diverse needs and a close consumer culture with Vietnamese goods. Second, Malaysia is a country with a large market openness and relatively low barriers to Vietnamese exports. In terms of difficulties and challenges, first of all is fierce competition with other exporting countries, especially China, Thailand and Indonesia. Second, all food products require Halal certification and meeting this standard will increase production costs for enterprises.

Source: Vitic/ congthuong.vn