Vietnam reports $124m trade deficit in 9 months

Vietnam hit a trade deficit of 124 million US dollars in the first nine months of 2013, accounting for about 0.1 percent of the total export value, according to the Vietnam General Statistics Office on Tuesday. Specifically, the country pocketed 96.463 billion dollars from exports during the reviewed period, a year-on-year increase of 15. 7 percent, while it spent 96.587 billion dollars, up 15.5 percent. Of the total export value, the foreign direct investment (FDI) sector contributed 63.9 billion dollars (including crude oil), up 22.4 percent, while the domestic economic sector earned only 32.5 billion dollars, up 4.4 percent. Commodities that recorded a high export value included telephones and appliances with 15.1 billion dollars (up 75.7 percent); garments and textiles with 13.2 billion dollars (up 18 percent); electronic exports, computers and devices with 7.8 billion dollars (up 45.3 percent); footwear with 6.1 billion dollars (up 16.3 percent); and wood-based exports with 3.8 billion dollars (up 13.8 percent). Of the total import value, the FDI sector spent 54.5 billion dollars, up 24.8 percent, and the domestic sector spent 42.1 billion dollars, up 5.3 percent. The imported commodities with high year-on-year increase value included electronic products, computers and appliances with 13 billion dollars (up 40.5 percent); fabrics with 6.1 billion dollars (up 19.1 percent); plastics with 4.2 billion dollars (up 17 percent); raw materials for garment and footwear making with 2. 7 billion dollars (up 19.6 percent); and animal feed with 2.4 billion dollars (up 39.4 percent). In the nine-month period, the FDI sector recorded a trade surplus of 9.45 billion dollars, while the domestic sector hit a trade deficit of 9.57 billion dollars, reported the statistics office.