The above results are thanks to the efforts of the Government, which has drastically directed ministries, branches, and localities, as well as the determination of businesses to make good use of the opportunities of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) while affirming the quality of Vietnamese goods in the international market. 

With the existing advantages combined with the positive growth results of export revenue, in the first months of the year, the Ministry of Industry and Trade assessed that in 2024, Vietnam's exports will have many opportunities to recover well, although they still have to face challenges with many unpredictable risks in the global market. 

Many positive signals

Commenting on the first six months of the year’s export situation, Deputy Director of the Import-Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade Tran Thanh Hai, said that many factors have been promoting the recovery of import-export activities.

Specifically, it is the result of Vietnam's policy of international economic integration and diversifying export markets through negotiating and signing new generation FTAs. In addition, the Government has strongly participated in many solutions to comprehensively support the economy.

As the leading agency in the management and administration of import and export activities, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has also identified difficulties and risks from export markets, to advise and propose appropriate solutions. In particular, Vietnam has just upgraded its relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership with the US, promising sustainable development in trade relations between the two countries.

The problem of high inventory in markets is also gradually being overcome, especially in key export markets facing difficulties in 2023, such as the EU or the US. Specifically for the US, recovering consumer indicators have become an important support factor for economic growth. 

The director of the Department of Planning and Finance under the Ministry of Industry and Trade Bui Huy Son, provided specific numbers to clarify the above statement. Accordingly, the export revenue of goods in the past six months was estimated at 190.08 billion USD, up 14.5% over the same period.

In particular, the domestic economic sector recovered strongly with export revenue increasing by 20.7% over the same period, 6.2 percentage points higher than the general increase and 8.4 percentage points higher than the increase of the foreign economic sector (12.3%).

Trade promotion and export market expansion continued to achieve positive results, combining exploiting traditional markets and expanding new markets (Africa, Eastern Europe, Northern Europe, and West Asia). As a result, exports in the first six months of the year to most markets and major trading partners achieved high growth. The US continued to be Vietnam's largest export market, with an estimated revenue of 54.3 billion USD, accounting for 28.6% of the country's total export turnover and an increase of 22.1% over the same period last year, which decreased by 22.6%. Followed by the Chinese market, with an estimated turnover of 27.8 billion USD, an increase of 5.3%, the EU market was estimated to reach 24.46 billion USD, up 14.1% and the Republic of Korea was estimated to reach 12.2 billion USD, an increase of 10.4%.

In the opposite direction, the structure of imported goods in the first six months of the year also showed a positive signal, as up to 88.8% of total imported goods were necessary, including machinery and equipment, tools, spare parts and raw materials. Total import revenue was estimated at 158.2 billion USD, up 18.1% over the same period, showing good recovery momentum of domestic production as well as for export.

Of which, the import revenue of computers, electronic products and components alone was estimated at 48.8 billion USD, an increase of 26.7% and accounting for 27.4% of the total import revenue, and the import of machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts reached 22.3 billion USD, an increase of 14.6%.

Thanks to the increase in exports, the trade balance of goods continued to maintain a trade surplus of 11.63 billion USD, of which, the domestic economic sector’s trade deficit was 12.35 billion USD and the foreign-invested sector (including crude oil) had a trade surplus of 23.98 billion USD.

Flexibility in trade promotion work

Director of the Trade Promotion Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade Vu Ba Phu said, that in the first six months of the year, trade promotion work has brought many practical values to the export activities of businesses.

Specifically, trade promotion activities have focused on increasing the exploitation of FTAs to diversify marketsand supply chains, boosting exports. Investment promotion attracts foreign capital into the processing and manufacturing sector to improve the quality of domestically produced products to meet world market standards while coordinating with the Vietnam Trade Office system abroad to consult and provide market information for localities and businesses.

Since the beginning of the year, six trade promotion conferences with the Vietnam Trade Office system abroad have been conducted on general or in-depth topics,according to market and export industry groups.

The proactive participation of localities, industry associations and a large number of businesses has made these conferences an effective bridge for information exchange, enhancing coordination between domestic units and the system of the Vietnam Trade Office abroad, promptly removing difficulties and obstacles in import and export activities, aiming to make the most of new opportunities from markets, promoting sustainable export and import development.

However, many of Vietnam's export markets will continue to increase new requirements for international trade, establish more dense barriers, and increase the trend of trade protection, green transformation, and focus on health protection product groups, along with requirements for energy conversion, sustainable development, etc.

The change in the world and regional situation brings both advantages and opportunities, as well as mixed difficulties and challenges, posing many new requirements for trade promotion. Therefore, trade promotion activities in the coming time will have to be more flexible, combining traditional trade promotion with modern innovation methods, associated with e-commerce and the digital economy. All while strengthening communication, promotion, and improving the competitiveness of Vietnamese brand products and goods.

“On the other hand, we also need to continue to promote communications and increase awareness in the business community about green transformation and sustainable production, to support businesses in improving their competitiveness and adapting to current market trends”, Vu Ba Phu shared.

Deputy Director Tran Thanh Hai also emphasised that the global economy in 2024 is still facing many risks and is difficult to predict. The fight against inflation still contains many uncertain factors, especially due to the monetary policies of major countries. In addition, the current problem of excess capacity in China also increased competitive pressure in the market. As consumer demand declined, China's surplus of cheap goods could affect other countries' ability to boost exports.

Therefore, to maintain the increasing momentum of exports in the last months of the year, units of the Ministry of Industry and Trade are reviewing key products and markets that need to be prioritised for trade promotion in the short, medium and long term, closely coordinating to jointly deploy a series of professional activities of many units within the framework of a trade promotion program, thereby improving efficiency and saving resources in the context of funding sources from the still tight state budget.

In addition, it is also necessary to coordinate more closely in orienting localities, industry associations, and businesses, in proposing and developing plans to implement trade promotion activities and develop the domestic market and import-export digital transformation in trade promotion, following strategies and projects approved by the Prime Minister.

Source: Nhandan News