Most items posted impressive export growth, especially industrial goods.
Mobile phone export rose 126% to 6.1 billion USD, computers and electronic components increased 46% to 3.9 billion USD, and wood and wood products grew 59% to at 1.34 billion USD.
While the increase in export turnover of industrial goods was mainly due to the contributions of foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises, the exports of agricultural, forestry, and aquatic products were a bright spot despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr. Tran Thanh Hai, Deputy Director of the Import-Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade attributed the positive export growth in January to Vietnam signing free trade agreements (FTAs) with most partners and the local enterprises making good use of tax incentives from these FTAs.
Given the complicated development of Covid-19 in the world, Vietnam’s exports to several traditional markets have encountered many difficulties. Nevertheless, the local enterprises have surmounted difficulties by boosting their exports to alternative markets, Hai emphasized.
As of 2020, Vietnam’s export markets with a turnover of over 1 billion USD have amounted to 31 from 24 in 2016. Among them, there have been 5 markets with a turnover of over 10 billion USD and 8 markets with a turnover of more than 5 billion USD.
