A weaving production line of Hanosimex Ha Dong Textile Joint Stock Company. (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - The export turnover of Vietnam is estimated to touch 13.8 billion USD in January, slightly increasing by 0.5 percent against the previous month, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).
The foreign direct investment (FDI) sector contributed 9.7 billion USD to the country's export revenue, rising by 4.8 percent, while the domestic sector witnessed a drop of 8.7 percent in export value.
The exports of phones and components and computers and spare parts increased significantly this month, up by 44.3 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively.
Products which saw declines in exports included garments and textiles, with a drop of 9.4 percent, and crude oil, with a drop of 23 percent in volume and 40 percent in value.
The office said the US remained Vietnam's biggest export market in January, with an anticipated export value of 3.1 billion USD, up by 17.3 percent over the same period last year.
Meanwhile, Vietnam imported 14 billion USD worth of goods in the month, representing a drop of 2.1 percent over last December.
The imports of the FDI sector increased by 6.4 percent while those of the domestic sector decreased by 11.9 percent.
Vietnam remained largely dependent on China for imports, with an estimated import value of 4.4 billion USD, up 0.4 percent over the same period last year.
Statistics showed that the FDI sector (including crude oil) ran a trade surplus of 1.6 billion USD, while the domestic sector post a trade deficit of 1.8 billion USD, making a trade deficit of 200 million USD overall for the month.
Exports in 2015
The revised statistics of the GSO revealed that Vietnam's export value in 2015 was 162.1 billion USD, down 327 million USD compared to the previously estimated figure.
With the revised import turnover at 165.6 billion USD, the country ran a trade deficit of 3.5 billion USD, 300 million USD higher than the previous estimate.
Last year's trade deficit was equivalent to 2.2 percent of the country's export turnover.
Vietnam has targeted export revenue of 178 billion USD in 2016, rising by 10 percent over 2015, with a trade deficit below 5 percent of the export turnover.-VNA
