Hanoi (VNA)🀅 – Despite serious impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, exports remain an important support for the realisation of the dual targets of containing the coronavirus and boosting socio-economic development.

Notably, the 11-month record trade surplus has proved that directions by relevant authorities and efforts to capitalise on opportunities have become fruitful.

Processing industry leads export growth

Overseas shipments generated 25.14 billion USD in November, raising the 11-month export revenue to 254.93 billion USD – up 5.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT). That result is largely attributed to the processing industry, which shipped 20.97 billion USD worth of products in November, up 8.2 percent year on year. This sector raked in 216.35 billion USD in export turnover in the first 11 months, rising by 6.1 percent. Last month, Vietnam also witnessed the recovery of agro-forestry-fishery exports, estimated at 2.22 billion USD – up 3.2 percent from the same period last year. Notably, export prices of many agro-forestry-fishery commodities bounced back, showing the recovered demand for these items from Vietnam after a long period of time they were impacted the COVID-19 pandemic.

ꩵ[Forestry production expected to grow 5-5.5 percent annually in next five years]

For example, coffee export prices reached 1,963 USD per tonne in November, up 5.7 percent from October and 12.2 percent from the same period last year. Peppercorn prices increased by 3.6 percent month on month and 8.1 percent year on year. Export prices of rubber also grew 8.8 percent and 15 percent, respectively. Shipments of timber and wood products to foreign markets surpassed 10.88 billion USD in the 11 months, soaring 14.1 percent year on year and becoming one of the top 10 foreign currency earners with a share of 4.26 percent of the total export turnover. Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Cao Quoc Hung said although the economic situation in both the country and the world has been greatly affected by the pandemic, the processing and wood sectors have still experienced strong growth and become highlights in the country’s export panorama, helping to sustain export growth. Truong Dinh Hoe, Secretary General of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said while the export of aquatic products, especially tra fish, plunged due to COVID-19 impact in the first months of the year, it has accelerated recently. Aquatic export turnover in 2020 may reach about 8.4 billion USD, and the outlook is more promising in 2021, he noted.

Trade surplus hits record

Meanwhile, Vietnam imported 24.48 billion USD worth of goods in November, up 14.7 percent, raising the 11-month imports to around 234.78 billion USD, rising 1.6 percent from the same period last year. Some commodities with high import growth include computers, electronic products and components (up 22 percent); mobile phones (9.3 percent); plastic products (9.7 percent); and chemical products (3.1 percent). China remained the largest exporter to Vietnam between January and November, with 73.9 billion USD – up 7.9 percent year on year. It was followed by the Republic of Korea with 42 billion USD (down 2.9 percent), ASEAN 27.3 billion USD (down 6.9 percent), Japan 18.6 billion USD (up 4.8 percent), and the EU 13.2 billion USD (up 4.3 percent). As a result, Vietnam posted a trade surplus of 660 million USD in November, achieving a record surplus of 20.16 billion USD in 11 months – nearly doubling the figure, 10.8 billion USD, seen in the same period last year. As there is only nearly one month left for efforts to obtain the best possible results for this year, the MoIT has ordered relevant agencies to take concerted solutions to assist enterprises in promoting production and business activities. Among them, a key solution is to boost shipments to the markets that have partly recovered from the pandemic. In addition, the MoIT is also keeping a close watch on every market to identify the commodities in demand there so as to capitalise on free trade agreements and fuel exports. Deputy Minister Hung noted that his ministry has ordered its subordinate units to have a good grasp of the reality in order to remove obstacles and facilitate activities of enterprises in all sectors./.