HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam is unlikely to meet the 10 per cent export growth target for this year, said Minister of Industry and Trade, Trần Tuấn Anh.

According to the General Department of Customs, total export value in the first ten months reached US$143.9 billion, a year-on-year increase of 7 per cent. Of this sum, the export value from foreign invested firms stood at $100.88 billion, a year-on-year surge of 10 per cent.

During the first ten months of 2016, the agro, forestry and fishery sector had a breakthrough growth in export value at 7.9 per cent to $18.3 billion, while in first ten months of 2015, the sector saw a year-on-year reduction of 9.7 per cent, said the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

However, the 10-per cent target will not be met because unstable politics in key export markets have reduced demand and prices, the minister told Vietnam News Agency. The decline of China’s economy has also affected global trade, including Việt Nam’s, he said.

The minister listed the major factors for the missed target:

- Other countries with similar export structures as Việt Nam have promoted solutions to increase exports, resulting in tougher competition for Vietnamese goods.

- Many importing countries have applied technical barriers and increased demands regarding the quality of imports, especially farming and fishery products, while disadvantages in weather have also affected the supply and quality of these products.

- Việt Nam does not have strong supply industries for key export of industrial products, such as mobile phones, textiles, garments, leather and footwear, and must therefore depend on import of material for production. This makes export products susceptible to price fluctuations of raw materials on the world market.

- Small and medium-size enterprises have a hard time getting credit though interest rates have been reduced.

Tuấn Anh pledged that his ministry would focus on implementing effective trade promotion programmes for export products facing difficulties in price and market. It will build trademarks for some key export products such as textiles, seafood, fruits and rice to enhance its competitiveness.

Tuấn Anh also promised to review and simplify import and export procedures and control counterfeit and poor-quality imports for producing export goods. - VNS