This trade reversal has led to doubts whether Vietnam can maintain a trade deficit of less than 5% set by the National Assembly, while it has already reached 4.8% in the first six months.
Vietnam’s key group exports such as agriculture, forestry and fisheries saw a significant decrease in the first half of this year. Some other groups also faced the same situation, especially coffee with a decrease of 35% on-year.
The decline of key export groups and raw materials has badly affected the export turnover of Vietnam. In the first half of this year, the export growth rate hit 9.3%, down from 15% in the same period last year.
Vietnam has attempted to push investment and trade through free trade agreement. However, after 6 months, many analysts are worried that Vietnamese businesses may not take the opportunities posed by new free trade agreements.
