Vietnam’s trade turnover is poised to exceed the US$500-billion mark for first time in 2019, marking the strong growth of the Vietnamese-invested sector compared to foreign invested companies, the General Statistics Office (GSO) has said in its monthly report.

Source: GSO, GDVC. Chart: Ngoc Thuy.

In 2019, the country’s trade turnover is estimated at US$516.96 billion, up nearly 8% year-on-year, of which exports amounted to US263.45 billion, up 8.1% year-on-year, and imports totaled US$253.51 billion, up 7%.

This resulted in a trade surplus of all-time high US$9.9 billion for 2019.

Data: GSO. Chart: Ngoc Thuy.

On breaking down, the domestic sector reported a trade deficit of US$25.9 billion this year while foreign-invested firms posted a trade surplus of US$35.8 billion. The former’s exports expanded 17.7% to US$82.1 billion, accounting for 31.2% of total exports. Meanwhile, FDI firms reaped US$181.35 billion from overseas shipments, up 4.2% and accounting for 68.8% of the total (down 2.5 percentage points year-on-year).

In December, Vietnam exported goods worth US$21.8 billion, down 4.4% inter-monthly, while imports reached US$22.8 billion, up 6.8%, resulting in a trade deficit of US$1 billion in the final month of the year.

At a meeting on December 27, Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said Vietnam’s trade surplus in the fourth consecutive year helped maintain a large amount of foreign exchange reserves and kept the exchange policy and macro-economic conditions stable.

Additionally, Japan, the US, EU and ASEAN continue to be Vietnam’s major export markets in 2019.

One year since the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans – Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) came into effective, Vietnam’s exports to the member nations surged compared to last year, including Canada with nearly US$4 billion, or Mexico with US$3 billion, said the minister.

Anh expected 2020 to be a difficult year for trade, particularly with the ongoing US – China trade war and growing trend of protectionism, among other issues.