High growth in all fields

The General Statistics Office (GSO) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MoPI) says that, over the past nine months, all sectors have achieved higher growth than the period before. Economic growth increased from 5.83 percent in the first quarter to 6.4 percent in the second, and 7.16 percent in the third.

Despite the impacts of droughts and storms, agricultural production still rose by 4.6 percent compared to the same period last year and epidemics were controlled.

According to the MoPI, industrial production value increased by 13.8 percent to nearly VND 574,000 billion, a year-on-year increase of 200 percent, making it the sector with the highest growth.

Processing and manufacturing accounted for 89.4 percent of the industry’s total production value, reaching a 14.7 percent growth rate, 6 percent higher than the previous period.

Some major products achieved high growth of 16.4-121.2 percent, including powdered milk, sport shoes, glass, trucks, chemical paint and cement.

Nguyen Thanh Bien, deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, said at a meeting on October 1 that in the reviewed period the sector made up two-thirds of the country’s total export value with US$35 billion, a year-on-year increase of 33.3 percent.

To maintain growth in the three remaining months, the industry must accelerate the production of products with high consumer demand to balance supply and demand as well as to fulfill targets set for industrial production and export.

Exports made progress

Mr Bien said that, by the end of September, the country’s exports hit US$51.5 billion, up 20.5 percent compared to the same period last year. Exports in September alone reached US$6.1 billion.

The foreign directed sector’s exports in the first nine months of this year are estimated to hit US$23 billion, up 40.1 percent over the same period last year.

23 out of 26 products achieved high export growth over the past nine months, and 6 of them increased by more than 50 percent. During that time, 13 products earned more than US$1 billion from exports, with garments topping the list at over US$8 billion, up 20.6 percent.

Le Van Dao, vice president of the Vietnam Textile and Garment Association (VTGA), said garment exports surpassed US$1 billion per month over the past three months and the sector will be able to meet its set target of US$10.5 billion in November.

Dao said that garment businesses have orders for the end of this year and even for the beginning of next year. Except for the EU market, exports to major markets, such as the US and Japan have achieved high growth. Thanks to Free Trade Agreement between ASEAN, Japan, and the Republic of Korea, exports to these markets rose sharply, the RoK rose 80 percent and Japan rose 15 percent.

According to a report from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, agricultural, forestry and seafood exports are estimated to reach US$1.75 billion, bringing their total export value in the first nine months of this year to US$13.93 billion, up 23.3 percent.

Five products exporting more than US$1 billion are seafood, coffee, rubber, wood and particularly, rice. Vietnam has exported 5.6 million tonnes of rice, earning US$2.59 billion, up 12.3 percent in volume and 15.2 percent in value.

The export price of rice in September declined slightly compared to the previous month, however, it is nearly equal to that of Thailand.

As a result of price hikes, rubber exports rose significantly. In nine months, 531,000 tonnes of rubber have been exported, bringing in US$1.45 billion, up 10.9 percent in volume but nearly 200 percent in value.

Seafood exports reached US$3.5 billion in the reviewed period, leading the agricultural industry in exports and raking third in the list of products with the highest export values after garments and crude oil.

Forestry exports still gained positive results with an estimated export value of US$320 million in September, bringing the total value over nine months to US$2.6 billion.

Although coffee exports still faces difficulties, the country shipped 925,000 tonnes of coffee in the reviewed period, earning US1.23 billion, up 4.2 percent in volume and 0.9 percent in value.

Mineral products, such as coal and crude oil declined sharply. In nine months nearly 14.7 million tonnes of coal worth US$1.16 billion were exported, down 17 percent in volume but up 16.2 percent in value, while 6.08 million tonnes or US$3.67 billion worth of crude oil was exported, down 44.3 percent in volume and 22.2 percent in value.

Import-export targets to be fulfilled a month ahead

According to the GSO, imports in September are estimated to reach US$7.15 billion, bringing the total import value for the first nine months to US$60.08 billion, up 22.7 percent compared to the same period last year.

More than US$1 billion of 13 products were imported, including machinery, equipment, tools, petroleum, steel, cotton, electronics, computers and components.

The trade deficit in September was US$1.05 billion, bringing the nine month total to US$8.6 billion, accounting for 16.7 percent of total export value.

Exports have experienced strong growth since the beginning of this year, 1.6 percent in the first quarter and 17 percent in the first six months of this year. It is estimated they will triple the amount in the set plan.

It is expected that import-export value will meet the set target a month ahead of the schedule. The Government’s target for a trade deficit not over 20 percent will probably be achieved.

However, the MoIT still asked its member units and businesses to continue accelerate production to ensure the balance of supply and demand for essential commodities to meet domestic consumption and exports.

They must step up investment and capital disbursement for projects so Vietnam will less dependent on imported materials.

In addition, departments must pour more investment into projects, especially electrical projects or projects to improve the production capacity of exports.