Vietnam's export, import expand in Q1

HANOI, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam made export turnovers of more than 58.5 billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter of this year, up 4.7 percent against the same period last year, and import turnovers of roughly 58 billion U.S. dollars, up 8.9 percent, seeing a trade surplus of 530 million U.S. dollars, its General Statistics Office said on Friday.

Specifically, Vietnam earned 7.3 billion U.S. dollars from exporting garment and textile products, up 13.3 percent; reaping 6.9 billion U.S. dollars from electronic products and components, up 9.3 percent; and 4 billion U.S. dollars from footwear, up 15.3 percent.

Between January and March, the United States remained Vietnam's biggest importer with turnovers of 13 billion U.S. dollars, up 26 percent, tailed by the European Union with 10.2 billion U.S. dollars, up 2.5 percent and China with 7.6 billion U.S. dollars, down 7.4 percent, according to the office.

In the same period, Vietnam spent 11.7 billion U.S. dollars on importing electronic appliances and their components, up 12.2 percent; 8.7 billion U.S. dollars on machines, equipment and spare parts, up 15.1 percent; and 2.8 billion U.S. dollars on cloth, up 6.4 percent.

Meanwhile, China was Vietnam's largest exporter with turnovers of 15 billion U.S. dollars, up 13.2 percent, followed by South Korea with 11.8 billion U.S. dollars, up 1.1 percent, and the ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) with 8.2 billion U.S. dollars, up 10.1 percent, the office said.

In 2018, Vietnam reaped export turnovers of over 243.5 billion U.S. dollars, up 13.2 percent against 2017, and import turnovers of 236.7 billion U.S. dollars, up 11.1 percent, posting a trade surplus of 6.8 billion U.S. dollars.