Pandemic takes toll on Vietnam’s exports to Israel: trade office
The COVID-19 pandemic and political developments in Israel has partly affected Vietnam’s exports to this market, according to Vietnam’s trade office in Israel.
Vietnamese Commercial Counsellor to Israel Le Thai Hoa said Vietnam recorded over US$650 million in exports to and about US$750 million in imports from Israel during January – November.
The trade office forecast the whole-year figures at some US$700 million and US$800 million respectively, resulting in a trade deficit of about US$100 million with Israel.
In October alone, bilateral trade reached US$136.02 million, with Vietnam’s shipments down 16.3% month on month to US$40.14 million and with imports surging 62.1% to US$95.88 million.
The same trend was seen during the 10 months, Hoa noted, adding that exports to Israel fell 11.6% year on year to US$574.21 million but imports shot up 188.6% to US$717.01 million.
The surge of Vietnam’s imports is attributed to the purchase of computers, electronic products and components, which have high value, from Israel, leading to a deficit of US$142.8 million during the 10 month period, he said.
Despite a population of only around 9.3 million, Israel is currently the third largest Middle Eastern export market of Vietnam, following the UAE and Turkey.