At a press conference in Hanoi on September 29, GSO General Director Nguyen Thi Huong said total trade revenue reached USD 388.73 billion between January and September, up 1.8 percent year-on-year.
Exports were estimated at USD 202.86 billion, up 4.2 percent.
The domestic sector remained a driver of export growth, as it earned USD 71.8 billion from shipments, up 20.2 percent and accounting for 35.4 percent of total exports. Meanwhile, the foreign-invested sector raked in USD 131 billion, including crude oil sales, down 2.9 percent and making up 64.6 percent of the total.
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A tea processing factory in Thanh Son district of Phu Tho province |
Thirty commodities posted export revenue of more than USD 1 billion, accounting for 91.3 percent of total exports. Five saw over USD 10 billion in turnover each, accounting for 59.8 percent, the GSO reported.
Meanwhile, imports declined 0.8 percent year-on-year in the first nine months to USD 185.87 billion, including USD 82.3 billion imported by the domestic sector (up 4.7 percent) and USD 103.5 billion by the foreign-invested sector (down 4.8 percent).
Thirty-two commodities posted over USD 1 billion in import value each, or 88.3 percent of total imports.
The country posted a trade surplus of USD 16.9 billion in January-September, compared to a surplus of USD 7.27 billion in the same period last year, with domestic businesses posting a deficit of USD 10.52 billion and foreign-invested enterprises a surplus of USD 27.5 billion (including crude oil).
In September alone, exports declined 0.7 percent month-on-month to USD 27.5 billion while imports increased 5.6 percent to USD 24 billion, for a surplus of USD 3.5 billion.
The figures rose 11 percent and 3 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, to USD 80 billion and USD 68.5 billion, respectively.
Source: VNA