Vietnam has recorded a trade surplus of US$4 billion during the first half of the year despite the complex nature of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic globally, with figures revealing the trend is increasingly true among the country’s leading trade partners, according to the General Statistics Office.

Throughout the six-month period, the country’s export turnover totaled US$121.21 billion, an annual decrease of 1.1%. Of the figure, the foreign invested sector raked in US$79.83 billion, representing a decline of 6.7% and accounting for 65.9% of the country’s overall export turnover.

Elsewhere, the domestic economic sector earned a total of US$41.38 billion in export revenue, marking an increase of 11.7% and accounting for 34.1% of the total export value.

The six-month import value of commodities fell by 3% to US$117.17 billion in comparison with the same period last year, of which a total of 22 imported items reached over US$1 billion each, making up 81.2% of the total import turnover.

Most notably, June saw the country enjoy a trade surplus of US$500 million alone, with the domestic economic sector recording a trade deficit of US$10.2 billion, while the foreign-invested sector experienced a trade surplus of US$14.2 billion during the first half of the year.

Experts say the positive trade surplus is expected to help improve the national payment balance, contributing to increasing foreign exchange reserves and stabilizing the VND/USD exchange rate. It will also help accelerate economic growth through stimulating market consumption.