Rice is Vietnam's key export product to the Philippines (Photo: vneconomy.vn)

The turnover hit 4.21 billion USD in the first half of this year, of which 2.93 billion USD came from Vietnam’s exports, up 17.6% against that in the same period last year.

Prominent among Vietnamese exports was rice, with its revenue of 1.2 billion USD, up 40.9% year-on-year, accounting for 41% of Vietnam’s total from this market.

In the reviewed period, Vietnam spent nearly 1.28 billion USD importing products from the Philippines, up 19.5% year-on-year, mainly computers, electronic products and components with 779.2 million USD, equipment, tools and spare parts 132.3 million USD, and metals of all kinds 103 million USD.

In the coming time, Vietnam's rice exports to the Southeast Asian country are expected to benefit from Manila's new import tax reduction regulation.

In a meeting held in early June, the Philippine government announced that it will reduce the rice import tax from 35% to 15% starting this year to 2028 in order to curb domestic inflation.