Vietnam's export up slightly in first 4 months

HANOI, April 29 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam made export turnovers of more than 82.9 billion U.S. dollars and saw import turnovers of nearly 79.9 billion U.S. dollars in the first four months of this year, up 4.7 percent and 2.1 percent on-year respectively, the country's General Statistics Office said on Wednesday.

Specifically, Vietnam earned 16.2 billion U.S. dollars from phones and components, up 1.1 percent, reaping 12.4 billion U.S. dollars from exporting electronic goods, computers and components, up 28.6 percent, and 5.5 billion U.S. dollars from footwear, up 1.3 percent.

Between January and April, the United States remained Vietnam's biggest importer with turnovers of 20.3 billion U.S. dollars, tailed by China with 13.1 billion U.S. dollars and the European Union with 10.7 billion U.S. dollars, according to the office.

In the same period, Vietnam spent 17.8 billion U.S. dollars on importing electronic goods, computers and components, up 12.5 percent, 11.5 billion U.S. dollars on machines, equipment and spare parts, down 0.1 percent, 4.3 billion U.S. dollars on phones and components, up 12 percent, and 3.6 billion U.S. dollars on cloth, down 10.9 percent.

Meanwhile, China was Vietnam's largest exporter with turnovers of 22.7 billion U.S. dollars, followed by South Korea with 15.5 billion U.S. dollars, and the ASEAN with 9.9 billion U.S. dollars, the office said.

In 2019, Vietnam's total trade turnover reached nearly 517 billion U.S. dollars with an export turnover of nearly 263.5 billion U.S. dollars. The country posted a trade surplus of more than 9.9 billion U.S. dollars, the highest level in the past four years.