High export growth of domestic enterprises
Export of goods continues to be a bright spot in overall picture of the economy in the first 7 months of 2024, showing a strong recovery. According to Ministry of Industry and Trade, export turnover of goods in July 2024 is estimated at 35.92 billion USD, up 19.1% over the same period last year. Of which, domestic economic sector increased by 25.9%, the foreign-invested sector (including crude oil) increased by 16.7%.
In the first 7 months of 2024, export turnover of goods is estimated at 226.98 billion USD, up 15.7% over the same period last year. Of which, domestic economic sector reached 63.08 billion USD, up 21.1%; the foreign-invested sector (including crude oil) reached 163.9 billion USD, up 13.8%.
Thus, in addition to the significant growth in general export turnover, domestic economic sector continues to be a bright spot in import-export activities with stable growth, even much higher than that of foreign-invested enterprises.
Reason is that enterprises in domestic economic sector mainly operate in industries such as agricultural exports, textiles, footwear, etc. Meanwhile, these are all sectors that have seen many improvements in the past 7 months.
Specifically, total export turnover of agricultural products is estimated at 21.4 billion USD after 7 months, up 19.6% over the same period in 2023, accounting for 9.4% of the total export turnover of the country. Due to the increase in export prices, most of the items in this group achieved high export turnover growth rates at double digits compared to the same period last year, such as: Coffee increased by 30.9%; rice increased by 25.1%; tea of all kinds increased by 34.8%; vegetables and fruits increased by 24.3%; cashew nuts increased by 22.1%; pepper increased by 46.3%; cassava and cassava products increased by 12.5%...
For group of processed industrial goods, wood and wood products exports increased by 23.3%; iron and steel of all kinds increased by 9.8%; textiles and garments increased by 4.3%; footwear of all kinds increased by 10.1%...
For textile and garment orders, after 2 years of facing countless difficulties, orders have now begun to return. Mr. Cao Huu Hieu - General Director of Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group said that currently, most of garment enterprises under the group have enough production orders until the end of the third quarter of 2024 and continue to negotiate and sign contracts for the fourth quarter of 2024 - peak production season for year-end and Tet orders. The group is aiming to reach 2024 target with a consolidated revenue target of VND 17,900 billion, equal to 101.63% compared to 2023; Consolidated profit reached 550 billion VND, equal to 102.13% compared to 2023
For fruits and vegetables, statistics from Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association show that in the first 7 months of 2024, export turnover of fruits and vegetables is estimated to reach more than 3.8 billion USD, an increase of 23.4% over the same period in 2023. In 2024, Vietnam's fruit and vegetable exports could reach 7 billion USD, a record high in recent years.
Growth rate of fruit and vegetable exports in the first 7 months of this year shows that quality of Vietnamese fruit and vegetables is getting better and better, meeting requirements of export markets.
Notably, in export structure, Northeast Asian countries such as China, Korea, Japan... account for 80% of turnover; the remaining 20% comes from Europe, the US, Australia and the Middle East. Two Northeast Asian countries, China and Korea, are also two countries with the highest export turnover. Of which, China is the leading market, accounting for 64% of total export turnover with 2.1 billion USD, up 22% over the same period. Next is Korea with 164 million USD, up 55% over the same period.
Facing and overcoming challenges
Although import and export are improving, enterprises are still facing many difficulties. For example, in textile and garment industry, manufacturing enterprises are facing many new challenges due to customers' changing requirements, often placing small orders, low quantities, low unit prices and short delivery times. Consumers tend to buy more and more through e-commerce and demand for more diverse products.
In markets such as EU and the US, requirements for green and sustainable production from raw materials, labor, equipment to energy and transportation are all legalized and implemented synchronously.
At recent July trade promotion conference with system of Vietnamese trade offices abroad, Mr. Truong Van Cam - Permanent Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas) said that many countries are currently introducing trade defense measures against textile and garment products. Therefore, enterprises need information sharing and warnings to help businesses find solutions to respond.
Or for fruits and vegetables, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Binh - Chairman of Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association said that quality of fruits and vegetables is still not high, reflected in uniformity of the products and presence of pesticide residues. Next is the problem of competing to buy and sell when market fluctuates, especially in raw material area, which is serious. This is a long-standing problem, although there are many solutions, it has not been solved well, core of which is connection between producers and consumers when market fluctuates. In addition, quality related to production stage (from input materials, processing, preservation, implementation of growing area codes, packaging) is not good, so violations still occur. Therefore, authorities need to coordinate with localities and associations to do a good job of inspection and supervision, especially in product harvesting stage to avoid phenomenon of competing to buy and sell. In addition, regarding effectiveness of signed FTAs, although there have been improvements helping businesses gain profits, they have not met expectations.
In 2024, Ministry of Industry and Trade forecasts that export growth may exceed the set target of 6%... To support export activities in general, Ministry of Industry and Trade has directed Vietnam Trade Office system in market areas to regularly update information on foreign market situations, regulations, standards and conditions of foreign markets that may affect Vietnam's import and export activities and make recommendations to localities, associations and import-export enterprises, thereby boosting the export of goods.

Source: Vitic/ congthuong.vn