Vietnam's foreign trade down 13.9 pct in 7 months

HANOI, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam posted an estimated foreign trade value of 374.23 billion U.S. dollars in the first seven months of this year, down 13.9 percent year on year, with a trade surplus of 15.23 billion dollars, local media reported on Tuesday, citing the General Statistics Office (GSO).

Specifically, the export revenue stood at 194.73 billion dollars, down 10.6 percent, while the import revenue decreased 17.1 percent year on year to 179.5 billion dollars, the local newspaper Vietnam News reported.

The United States remained Vietnam's biggest importer with turnovers of 52.4 billion dollars, and China was its largest exporter with turnovers of 58.6 billion dollars over the period, according to the office.

Many key export products of Vietnam are facing difficulties because of the sharp decrease in global market demand, the newspaper said, citing the GSO.

A large trade surplus that the economy continued to post has raised concerns that industrial production and exports will continue to face difficulties in the coming time, the newspaper said.

As Vietnam's economy depends heavily on imported raw materials, the decrease in imports shows that enterprises are still short of orders, so there is no need to import input materials, it reported.

To further improve import and export efficiency, the Ministry of Industry and Trade would renew and promote trade promotion activities targeting new markets and potential ones including India, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Eastern Europe, the newspaper reported.