Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam recorded a trade surplus of 10.6 billion USD in the January-November period, the General Statistics Office has announced.

In November, the import-export turnover was estimated at 57.58 billion USD, down 1.2% month-on-month and 7.8% year-on-year, bringing the total value in the first 11 months to 673.8 billion USD, up 11.8% year-on-year.

In the period under review, the export revenue was estimated at 342.2 billion USD, up 13.4% y-o-y, and import at 331.6 billion USD, up 10.1%.

Thirty-five commodities report an export turnover of more 1 billion USD each, with eight surpassing the 10-billion-USD mark, accounting for 93.7% and 70.1% of the total, respectively.

Forty-five products saw the import value of over 1 billion USD, and six over 10 billion USD, making up 93.2% and 52.3% of the total, respectively.

𒊎 Notably, the export turnover of processed industrial products in 11 months continued to make an important contribution to the overall growth rate of export activities with an estimated turnover of 294.5 billion USD, up 13.3% over the same period last year and accounted for 86% of the total export turnover.

In this group of products, exports of most key commodities achieved high growth rates, such as fertilizers of all kinds, up 127.8 percent; chemicals, up 32.5%; chemical products by 28.2%; bags, suitcases, hats, umbrellas up 39.3%; textiles and apparel up 18.5%. Also during 11 months, the export of agricultural, forestry and fishery products was estimated at 28.3 billion USD, up 11.9% over the same period last year. The export of mineral fuels also increased by 33.5% over the same period last year. Notably, thanks to making good use of signed free trade agreements (FTAs), Vietnam's exports to many markets continued to maintain a high growth rate. According to To Hoai Nam, General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, export data to the markets of member countries of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in 2021 and 2022 shows that enterprises have seized the opportunities that this agreement brings to promote export growth. Not only is the growth in export of goods, but the number of small and medium-sized enterprises participating in the export process to the markets of CPTPP countries is increasing positively.

According to the General Department of Customs, there are about 50,000 small and medium enterprises exporting to the markets of CPTPP countries. The US is Vietnam’s biggest importer in the period, with the turnover estimated at 101.5 billion USD. China is the country’s largest exporter, at 109.9 billion USD.

In the period, Vietnam also records a trade surplus of 29.4 billion USD with the European Union, and a trade deficit of 56.9 billion USD with China.

To promote export, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai affirmed that in the last month, his ministry will focus on supporting businesses in finding alternative suppliers of raw materials with suitable prices to ensure sufficient raw materials and fuel for production and consumption, and to make good use of signed free trade agreements to speed up production and export.

ജ The facilitation of administrative procedures for enterprises will be further promoted through the application of digitalisation, typically in tax refund, import and export customs, and issuance of the Certificate of Origin.

According to Nguyen Kieu Oanh, Deputy Director of Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade, export activities of enterprises in the capital city to member countries of FTAs remained limited and mainly focused on traditional markets. She cited statistics that Hanoi’s exports to member countries of the CPTPP, EVFTA and UKVFTA were estimated to total 5.88 billion USD in 2022, or 33.9 percent of the capital city’s total export revenue. The capital city imported around 13.03 billion USD from member countries of these three trade deals this year. Around 2,600 enterprises had export activities and 7,900 had import activities with member countries of FTAs./.