The national trade value in 2017 was estimated at nearly US$425 billion, representing a bright spot in the economic picture of the year, the office said. The value of exports was estimated at US$213.77 billion, a year-on-year increase of 21%, higher than the annual growth rate of 9% in export value in 2016.

Meanwhile, the value of imports in 2017 was estimated at US$211.1 billion, 20.8% higher than 2016.

Foreign-invested companies notched a trade surplus of US$28.8 billion, contributing substantially to the total national trade surplus, while the domestic economic sector continued to have trade deficit of US$26.2 billion.

GSO said Samsung’s exports of new products contributed to the strong growth in the country’s export value this year because the group invested in expanding production of export products. At the same time, the expansion of production led to an increase in Samsung’s demand for imported machinery, equipment and raw materials.

The office said the FDI sector gained US$155.2 billion from the exports, up 23% year-on-year, while the domestic-invested sector achieved US$58.5 billion, up 16.2%.

The FDI sector paid US$126.4 billion for its imports, an increase of 23.4%. The domestic economic sector’s import value surged by 17% to US$84.7 billion.

The office said in 2017, China was the largest trading partner of Vietnam but the Southeast Asian nation had the largest trade deficit with the Republic of Korea.

China’s two-way trade with Vietnam was valued at US$93.8 billion, of which exports to China reached US$35.3 billion, up 60.6% and imports from China reached US$58.5 billion, up 16.9% year-on-year.

However, Vietnam’s trade deficit with China was estimated at US$23.2 billion, down 17.4%, being the second-largest trade deficit after that with the Republic of Korea.

Some Vietnamese commodities to China with strong exports included computers and components (up 73.5% to US$3 billion); fruits and vegetables (up 57.6% to US$1 billion); and phones and components (up 679.8% to US$5.4 billion due to higher demand).

Vietnam’s imports of machinery, tools and spare parts increased by 19% to US$1.8 billion; of phones and components by 38.2% to US$2.3 billion; and of computer, electronic products and their components by 20.3% to US$1.2 billion.

Meanwhile, the Republic of Korea was the second largest trading partner after China with US$61.8 billion in trade value, of which exports were valued at US$15 billion, up 31.1%, and imports at US$46.8 billion, up 45.5% year-on-year.

Therefore, Vietnam had the largest trade deficit with the RoK at US$31.8 billion, a year-on-year increase of 53.4%.

Vietnam’s goods gaining high export value to the Republic of Korea included telephones and components (up 48.7% to US$1.3 billion); textiles and garments (up 18.4% to US$421 million); and computers and components (up 45.1% to US$565 million).

The nation also saw rising imports of computers, electronic products and components (up 76.1% to US$6.6 billion) and machinery, equipment and spare parts (up 50.1% to US$3 billion).

The US ranked third in two-way trade with US$50.7 billion, of which export values reached the highest level of US$41.5 billion, a year-on-year increase of 8%, and import value stood at US$9.1 billion, up 4.9%, reported BizLive.

The bilateral trade value with the EU reached US$50.4 billion, including export value at US$38.3 billion, up 12.8%, and import value at US$12 billion, up 7.7%.

The trade value between Vietnam and the ASEAN market was estimated at US$49.7 billion in 2017, including export value at US$21.7 billion, up 24.5%, and import value at US$28 billion, up 16.4%.

The trade value with Japan stood at US$33.3 billion, of which export were valued at US$16.8 billion, up 14.2%, and imports at US$16.5 billion, up 9.7%.

VNA