Foreign trade may hit record of US$780 billion in 2022

Economic experts described the export and import panorama as highly positive, as two more groups of commodities – transport vehicles and spare parts, and fishery products – have seen 11-month export value of over US$10 billion, while import of materials for manufacturing have also surged.

By the end of November, exports and imports totalled US$673.82 billion, higher than the US$668.54 billion of the whole 2021. Trade surplus stood at US$10.6 billion, compared to the US$0.6 billion in the same period last year, according to the General Statistics Office.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said China’s rice import has shifted from low to high volume in the year-end period. Some EU countries also tend to import more rice to replace the wheat supply decline caused by the Russia - Ukraine conflict.

This has helped raise Vietnamese rice prices to US$480 per tonne, US$13 - 28 higher than Thai rice and US$60 - 65 higher than the Indian grain, thus substantially contributing to this year’s export growth.

Besides, products of the processing and manufacturing industry have also enjoyed growth of 6 - 39.9% in overseas shipments, helping turn export into a “bright spot” of the economy in 2022.

Assoc. Prof. and Dr. Nguyen Thuong Lang from the Hanoi-based National Economics University predicted that although export growth has slowed down slightly compared to the whole-year pace, foreign trade turnover will hit a record of about US$780 billion in 2022.

This is a stepping stone for Vietnam to achieve US$1 trillion in trade revenue by 2025, he added.

MA Vu Tuan Anh, President of the Junior Chamber International Vietnam, held that foreign direct investment remains the key driver of foreign trade. Meanwhile, processed and manufactured items are still key commodities, aside from textile-garment and agro-forestry-fishery products, of which timber, wood items, seafood, coffee, rubber, cassava, rice, vegetables, and fruit have generated high trade surplus.