Although much of the economy was impacted by the fourth wave of Covid-19 last year, Vietnam’s imports and exports reached a record of nearly $670 billion, an increase of almost 23 per cent from 2020.

This rise has put Vietnam into the top 20 leading economies in terms of international trade.

Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien announced the data at a meeting in Hanoi on January 9.

He said: “Entering 2022, the trade industry has set a target of increasing export turnover by six-to-eight per cent from 2021, while the trade balance will maintain a surplus.”

In a year-review meeting, Dien said of the total turnover, export reached $336.25 billion, up 19 per cent while the trade surplus was $4 billion. He said the industry had a successful year in exporting despite a slew of difficulties.

The minister said: “Vietnam has maintained a trade surplus for the sixth consecutive year.”

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh said export growth has surpassed the target of four-to-five per cent as set by the National Assembly and the government.

Khanh said shipments of raw materials decreased last year while the export volume of processed and industrial products increased; processed products accounted for 86.24 per cent of the export structure.

Growth was seen in markets that Vietnam has signed free trade agreements (FTA) with; China with 15 per cent, the US had 24.2 per cent, the EU saw 14 per cent, ASEAN had 25.8 per cent, South Korea with 15.8 per cent, India 21 per cent, New Zealand 42.5 per cent and Australia 3.1 per cent.

The minister said that in overcoming difficulties, the industry and trade sector has completed the year with many targets exceeding the plan. In detail, industrial production has continued to expand and maintain a growth rate of nearly five per cent.

The processing and manufacturing industry increased by 6.37 per cent, continuing to affirm its role as a driving force for the growth of the whole industry, making positive contributions to economic growth, creating jobs and ensuring social security, Dien said.

The oil and gas industry finished all targets ahead of schedule, contributing the most to the budget with 75.4 trillion dong ($3.3 billion). The coal industry has made efforts to overcome difficulties and completed its target plan for 2021.

The ministry added that the electricity sector has successfully served the socio-economic development and people’s daily life, putting into operation eight power projects with a total capacity of 4,350MW into use and lowering the electricity prices in the country.

At the meeting, a ministry representative also recognised the dependence on the foreign direct investment (FDI) sector, which has increased compared to recent years.

However, the added value of exports has not performed as expected as the market diversification of some products was still slow and unable to meet the standards and quality requirements of the markets, the representative said, stressing that this was not making good use of tariff preferences gained from FTAs.

The representative said: “Some agricultural products are too dependent on the neighbouring market and there is always a potential risk of prolonged congestion at the border gate.”

While exports were a highlight last year, the export capacity of domestic businesses, especially small and medium enterprises, was not high.

At the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh expressed appreciation to the ministry for its role in overcoming challenges to achieve these “strong results”.

He also pointed out the difficulties and limitations of the industry, such as the slow implementation of the national electricity and energy master plans for the 2021-2030 period with a vision to 2050.

Thanh also suggested the ministry should fix the electricity price regulation mechanism, especially feed-in-tariff prices for renewable energy projects, as well as the problem of power system regulation.

The deputy prime minister said the progress of implementing key projects of some corporations and enterprises was still slow and has not met the requirements. Border trade management has shortcomings and the ministry should improve the situation of smuggling, trade fraud, imitation and counterfeit goods in the country.

Thanh emphasised that the ministry should focus on leading and directing the construction and implementation of national electricity and the energy master plans, as they were of great significance.

He also asked the ministry to focus on removing difficulties and improving production and business efficiency in energy, processing, manufacturing, chemicals, fertilisers, and goods production industries such as textiles and leather, wood processing, agriculture, forestry and fishery.

Thanh told the ministry to forecast domestic and international market developments, especially import and export activities with unpredictable fluctuations.

At the same time, the department should promote exports and diversify markets and export goods, especially to new potential markets, as well as solve problems in customs clearance activities, and prevent congestion at border gates, especially the Vietnam-China border gates.

VIET NAM NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK