Việt Nam posted a trade surplus of US$2.71 billion in the first half of the year, compared with a deficit of $3.5 billion in the same period last year, according to the General Statistics Office.— VNA/VNS Photo Kim Há

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam posted a trade surplus of US$2.71 billion in the first half of the year, compared with a deficit of $3.5 billion in the same period last year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

Nguyễn Bích Lâm, GSO director general told the press last week that total export turnover was $113.9 billion, a 16 per cent year-on-year rise.

Exports of the domestic sector in the period reached $33 billion, increasing 20 per cent from the corresponding period last year while those of the foreign direct investment (FDI) sector were up 14.5 per cent to $80.8 billion.

The general director said key export products saw high growth. Notably, there were 20 items with export turnover of more than $1 billion, accounting for 85.6 per cent of the country’s total export turnover. Major products posting encouraging earnings included phones and spare parts ($22.5 billion, up 15.4 per cent), electronics and computers ($13.5 billion, up 15.7 per cent), garment and textile ($13.4 billion, up 13.8 per cent), machines and equipment ($7.8 billion, up 30.6 per cent) and shoes ($7.8 billion, up 10.6 per cent).

In terms of imports, the country spent $111.2 billion in the first six months of the year, up 10 per cent compared with the same period last year.

Imports were mainly commodities serving products for export, including machines and equipment with $45 billion, up 0.7 per cent and material and fuel $56.9 billion, up 19.4 per cent.

Việt Nam maintained its trade surplus with the US, EU and Japan with relatively high growth in two-way trade, Lâm added.

Bilateral trade value between Việt Nam and the US in the January-June period reached $27.1 billion, a 10.6 per cent year-on-year increase. Of which, Việt Nam’s export turnover to the US was $21.5 billion, increasing 9.2 per cent from the same period last year while import turnover rose by 16.3 per cent to $5.6 billion.

Two-way trade between Việt Nam and the EU was $26.8 billion. Việt Nam’s export turnover to the market was $20.5 billion and import turnover was $6.4 billion.

The country’s export turnover to Japan hiked 12.5 per cent to $9 billion and import value from the market was $8.8 billion, bringing total bilateral trade value of $17.9 billion in the first half of the year.

Phạm Quỳnh Lợi, GSO deputy director of the Trade and Services Statistics Department, said the domestic economic sector saw trade deficit of $12.94 billion while the FDI sector posted a trade surplus of $15.65 billion in the first half of the year.

Việt Nam maintained a trade deficit with China in January-June, with import turnover of $14.5 billion, increasing 4 per cent from the same period last year. — VNS