Vietnam’s trade value this year was estimated to touch US$500 billion, two years after hitting the $400 billion threshold, a new milestone for the country that has been striving to improve its business climate and enhance international integration.

Fish processed for export at a plant of Sao Mai Group. Vietnam's trade value
this year was estimated to touch US$500 billion. - VNA/VNS Photo Vu Sinh 

This was a very impressive result in the context that many countries were seeing a slowdown in trade, reflecting the sustainable growth of international trade in the Vietnam’s economic structure, Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said in an interview with congthuong.vn online newspaper.

Tuan Anh also said that with an average increase of 13 per cent per year in recent years, Vietnam was among the world’s top 30 countries in terms of trade growth.

Latest updates of Vietnam Customs showed that the country also posted a record trade surplus of nearly $11 billion in the January- November period, a record high.

The country had been running a trade surplus since 2016, far beyond the Government’s plan of reaching a trade balance in 2020.

He said that the Government’s efforts in improving the business climate created an impetus to increase the development of businesses, especially private firms, and attract foreign investment, which helped leverage the country’s production capacity and participate in the global production chain.

Firms also knew better how to grasp opportunities provided by free trade agreements (FTAs), he said, adding that in recent years, Vietnam negotiated and signed 16 FTAs, 12 of which have already come into force.

The ministry’s statistics showed that the trade revenue which used FTAs’ preferential certificate of origins accounted for 38 per cent of the country’s total export to FTA partner countries.

Besides advantages, there were challenges, Anh said. The trade disputes between big economies posed uncertainties to global trade.

The priority would be given to enhance the production and integration capacity of the economy, he said. Reforms would continue to be hastened following commitments to FTAs to create firms ground for the country’s growth, he added.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said that close watch would be kept on the developments of the US – China trade war to raise measures to boost exports.

He said the prevention against trade fraud related to the origin of goods must also be enhanced, adding that improving product quality would also be important to meet requirements of the import markets.

In addition, forecasts and warnings on trade remedies applied to Vietnam’s export products would be a focus, he said.

Customs statistics showed that Vietnam exported goods worth $241.65 billion in January – November, while it imported $230.71 billion in the period.

The country’s trade revenue reached $480.17 billion in 2018.