Vietnam's Exports Estimated at US$43.64 Bln in Jan-November

Vietnam's exports revenues are forecast to reach US$4.5 billion in November, raising total export value in the eleven months of this year to US$43.6 billion, up 20 per cent on year, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said Thursday.     

 

The group of FDI enterprises is estimated to export up to US$25 billion worth of items, up 18.4 per cent on year.

 

In the period of eleven months, crude oil became the biggest cash earner with the turnover of US$7.55 billion, followed by apparel US$7.05 billion, seafood exports US$3.45 billion, footwear US$3.53 billion, woodwork US$2.15 billion, electronics and spare parts US$1.96 billion, coffee US$1.6 billion, rice US$1.45 billion, and rubber US$1.24 billion.     

 

Despite fulfilling 93.2 per cent of this year's export target, the country still faces the trade deficit of up to US$10.5 billion in the period of eleven months as imports jump by one third to US$54.1 billion so far this year, up 47 per cent on year.

 

“The high deficit was attributed to substantial machinery and equipment imports and skyrocketing prices of petroleum, steel and other materials," the ministry's report said.

 

Last month, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said the government set a target of between 10.8 billion 10.9 billion for the trade deficit for 2008, while it hoped economic growth would reach 9.0 percent. (Investment Review, Vietnam Net)