Vietnam’s exports and imports rose over 24% year-on-year in the first quarter, driven by the country’s free trade agreements (FTAs), an expert has said.

Vietnam exported 428,000 tonnes of coffee worth US$771 million in the first quarter of 2021, down 17% in volume and 11.3% in value year on year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

The recent debut of the Vietnam-EU e-commerce platform (VEFTA) is expected to boost Vietnam’s exports to the EU market, experts have said.

VOV.VN - Vietnam raked in US$76.74 billion from exports and spent US$74.61 billion on imports during the first three months of the year, thus recording a trade surplus of US$2.14 billion, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

VOV.VN - The past month has seen import growth momentum at a faster rate compared to exports, thereby reflecting positive signs regarding Vietnam ’s economic recovery and the growth of domestic production activities, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) firms’ import-export value reached US$68.52 billion in the first two months of 2021, a surge of 31.5% from the same period last year, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

VOV.VN - Vietnamese export turnover to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) soared by roughly 60% to approximately US$737 million during the past two months, with imports enjoying a surge of 44% to US$72 million, according to data released by the Vietnamese Trade Office in the UAE and Qatar.

Vietnam should develop a generation of young entrepreneurs in the timber industry, and consider it a sector for startups, said President of the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association (HAWA) of HCM City Nguyen Quoc Khanh.

Vietnamese enterprises should take advantage of online marketing channels, re-arrange production and business orientations and strategies, and bring into full play advantages brought by free trade agreements if they want to achieve sustainable export growth, according to insiders.

Import-export value of agro-forestry-fisheries products hit nearly US$11 billion in the first two months of 2021, resulting in US$1.37 million in trade surplus, up 28.4% year on year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).