The fast-growing economy of Vietnam is forecast to earn US$14.52 billion from exports in the first four months of this year, up 22 per cent on-year, while reporting even higher on-year import growth of 32.8 per cent, posting at US$16.78 billion, according to the Government’s General Statistics Office (GSO).
The figures result in a huge trade deficit of US$2.26 billion during the period, up 3.2 times on-year.
Of total export revenue, foreign-invested firms contribute nearly US$8.1 billion, 17.7 per cent on-year, and domestic enterprises US$6.42 billion, up 27.8 per cent.
In April, Vietnam rakes in US$3.95 billion from exports, up 32.81 per cent on-year and 1.77 per cent on-month.
During the four-month span, there are four key export items reaching export value of over US$1 billion each: crude oil, apparel, footwear and seafood.
Crude oil still remains the biggest cash earner with a total export volume of 5.08 million tons valued at US$2.35 billion, down 5.4 per cent and 10.5 per cent on-year, respectively. It is followed by garments and textiles with nearly US$2.2 billion, up 31.7 per cent; footwear, US$1.2 billion, up 11 per cent; seafood, US$1.03 billion, up 20.4 per cent; coffee, US$947 million, up 134.8 per cent; woodwork products, US$780 million, up 24.2 per cent; and electronic and computer parts, US$635 million, up 27.5 per cent.
The country ships only 1.41 million tons of rice in January-April, totaling US$446 million, on-year declines of 19.4 per cent and 7.3 per cent.
Regarding imports during the first four months, foreign-invested companies import US$6.09 billion worth of goods, up 28.7 per cent on-year, while domestic ones pay US$10.69 billion, up 35.3 per cent.
In April, the Southeast Asian country spends US$4.5 billion on imports, up 25.63 per cent on-year and 0.49 per cent on-month.
In January-April, the nation continues spending the most on imports of machinery and equipment (US$2.88 billion, up 52.7 per cent on-year), followed by fuels (US$2.03 billion, up 14 per cent), steel and iron (US$1.28 billion, up 72.9 per cent), cloth (US$1.07 billion, up 22.4 per cent), plastics (US$731 million, up 34.8 per cent), garment and textiles accessories (US$606 million, down 5.4 per cent), and chemicals (US$407 million, up 35.5 per cent).
This year, Vietnam is forecast to bag US$47.5 billion in exports, up 20 per cent on-year, and to spend US$52.2 billion on goods imports, up 17.5 per cent. (GSO Apr 2007, Liberated Saigon, VNS)
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