Vietnam earned US$4.56 billion from exports to Japan, an increase of 20.3 percent over 2004, while Japan’s imports from Vietnam reached US$3.6 billion, up 15.3 percent. Thereby, Vietnam’s export surplus to Japan hit approximately US$960 million.

Apart from traditional export items such as textiles and garments, seafood, crude oil, electric cable lines, coal, wood products, electronic components and plastic products, Vietnam’s fresh flowers, high-quality textile and garment products and processed products have started to penetrate the Japanese market.

Despite Japan’s stricter food safety control measures against Vietnamese shrimp products, Vietnam has surpassed its competitive rival, Indonesia by around 21 percent to take top spot with a 23.3 percent share of the Japanese market.

The country has also moved from fourth to third place to rank only after China and Taiwan in terms of wood exports and is likely to make a greater profit in the coming time as Japan’s demand for Vietnamese wood products annually increase by US$2.2 billion on average. Vietnam is striving to export fresh fruit and vegetables, home appliances and software products to Japan. However, Vietnamese fresh fruit and vegetables have not yet been exported to Japan as some kinds of fruit still contain some harmful insects left from the growing, storage and package process.

However, in the coming time, Japan will transfer new technology and equipment to Vietnam to treat insects in fruits and vegetable and diversify export items.

Apart from importing traditional products from Vietnam, Japan will provide Vietnam with modern machines and equipment to boost its process of national industrialisation and modernisation. The positive signs of Japan’s economic recovery in recent times will create favourable conditions for the development of bilateral trade relations.

Japan has concluded its round of negotiations on Vietnam’s accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and is preparing for the next round of negotiation on the signing of a Free Trade Area (FTA) agreement with Vietnam. Judging by this fact, the target of raising Vietnam-Japan trade turnover to US$10 billion in 2006 is within reach.