HANOI: Vietnam posted a record combined export and import value in the year to Dec. 15 period, data from the country’s customs department showed on Wednesday, and expects to post a larger trade surplus in 2017 than last year.
The Southeast Asian economy exported roughly $204 billion of goods over the Dec. 15 year-to-date period, the department said in a report, up from $167.9 billion a year earlier. Imports over the same period were $201.3 billion, up from $166 billion a year earlier.
Vietnam estimates the country will post a trade surplus of $3 billion for the 2017 calendar year, a government website quoted Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue as saying at a press conference on Wednesday. China, the United States, South Korea, Japan and the European Union are Vietnam’s biggest trading partners.
While the Southeast Asian country of 80 million people is the United States’ fastest-growing export market, Vietnam’s widening trade surplus with the United States has become a focus for relations between Hanoi and Washington.
The customs department said in a separate statement on Tuesday that import and export volumes have grown significantly since Vietnam’s admission into the global trade community.
“Vietnam’s exports and imports combined hit $400 billion. Exports in particular have been over $200 billion, reaching the target that the National Assembly set for 2017,” a government website quoted Nguyen Duong Thai, Deputy Director General of Vietnam Customs, as saying on Tuesday.
