Foreign trade - a bright spot in the overall picture of the national economy in 2022

This is the first time the country’s import-export turnover has surpassed the US$700 billion mark.

Of the total, exports are projected to rise 10.5% to bring in US$371.5 billion. Among the export items, 39 commodities earned more than US$1 billion each, and nine commodities recorded more than US$10 billion each.

Meanwhile, Vietnam spent US$360.5 billion on imports, an increase of 8.5%. As a result, the local economy enjoyed a trade surplus of approximately US$11 billion, marking the seven years in a row that it has produced a trade surplus.

However, the export structure remains unbalanced, with the group of processed industrial products making up more than 86% of the total export turnover.

In addition, about 74% of the export value was generated by FDI businesses, while the export capacity of domestic enterprises, especially small and medium enterprises, is low.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh said exports began to fall in the fourth quarter due to the global shrinking market, falling orders, rising competition, and rising input costs.

The diversification of markets for some products, such as vegetables and fruits, is still slow, as it does not meet the requirements of standards and quality, or businesses have yet to make good use of FTAs Vietnam has signed with its partners.

Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Minh Vu warned 2023 would be a difficult year as the global economy is predicted to fall into a technical recession, leading to a decrease in purchasing power and consumption globally. Furthermore, trading partners are set to tighten import-export regulations, requiring Vietnamese businesses to develop appropriate response scenarios.

Sharing the view, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh said the game would be more rigorous and competitive. However, he said the trade sector has still set the target of raising the total export turnover by about 6% compared to this year.