Processing industry brightens January foreign trade picture
Processing industry brightens January foreign trade picture
Vietnam’s foreign trade recorded ongoing growth in January 2021 mostly due to successful export of Samsung’s S21 mobile phones.
The export value of processing industry products continued growing in January 2021
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Data from the Ministry of Industry and Trade show that total value of foreign trade in the first month of 2021 reached an estimated US$54.1 billion, up 45.7 percent compared with January 2020. Specifically, the export value reached an estimated US$27.7 billion, up 50.5 percent; and the import value reached US$26.4 billion, up 41 percent. The January 2021 export value grew 0.2 percent compared with December 2020. Trade by the domestic economic sector generated US$7.6 billion, up 6.4 percent; trade by the foreign-invested sector (including crude oil) generated US$20.1 billion, down two percent.
The export value of six products exceeded US$1 billion each. The export of processing industry products grew one percent compared with December 2020, accounting for 86.5 percent of total export value. Telephones and components continued to top the export value list at US$5.8 billion, up 25.9 percent compared with December 2020. Samsung contributed significantly to the export value of this group, with three new Android mobile phones: Samsung Galaxy S21, Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus, and Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra.
Vietnam’s import and export results in the first month of 2021 yielded an impressive trade surplus of US$1.3 billion.
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Negotiations on facilitating trade with China
Meanwhile, the export of agro-forestry-fishery products decreased by 16.2 percent due to numerous difficulties, including tighter quarantine, food safety control, origin tracing management and packaging and labeling requirements applied by China. Chinese authorities announced they would inspect and sterilize goods transported in containers to prevent cross-border Covid-19 spread when temperatures drop in winter and spring. The government of China’s Guangxi Province, which borders Vietnam’s Quang Ninh, Lang Son, Cao Bang and Ha Giang provinces, has also tightened management of frozen food imports.
In this context, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has warned companies exporting farm products and seafood to China of the need to tighten quality control to avoid violating Chinese regulations and facilitate customs clearance. The Ministry of Industry and Trade is also coordinating with other ministries and sectors to negotiate with the Chinese side in order to facilitate import-export activities between the two countries.
At a recent meeting with the media, Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh emphasized that due to the ongoing complications of the Covid-19 pandemic, economic activities will continue to take place according to the so-called “new normal” in 2021. However, recently inplemented new-generation free trade agreements (FTAs) such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) with tariff preferences are expected to boost exports to member countries, especially once vaccines alleviate the pandemic in Europe.
| The Ministry of Industry and Trade will take advantage of FTAs to diversify export markets for Vietnamese goods, especially small and niche markets, while at the same time increasing the range of export products, developing brands and enhancing product competitiveness. |
