The Hai Phong Port in the northern port city of Hai Phong. — Photo congthuong.vn

In the first half of July, Viet Nam's export revenue exceeded US$10.5 billion and its import value topped $11.18 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of nearly $700 million.

However, the country posted a trade surplus of more than $900 million from the beginning of this year to July 15 thanks to a significant trade surplus of $1.93 billion in June, a report from the General Department of Customs revealed.

Mobile phones and phone components were the largest export earner in the first half of July at $1.72 billion. Textile and garment came second with $1.55 billion, followed by computers, electronics and parts with $1.42 billion.

The country’s total export earnings saw a year-on-year increase of 8 per cent to $133 billion by mid-June.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) forecasts exports of many products such as apparel, wood and wooden products will accelerate in the second half of the year as demand for these items in the global market is set to increase.

Vietnamese enterprises have an opportunity from now to the end of this year to speed up their exports to overseas markets, according to the MoIT.

The ministry said it will continue to monitor US-China trade tension to come up with plans and policies to support exports.

It will also help enterprises expand to new export markets and grow the market share of Vietnamese goods in traditional markets and free trade partners, especially for the products in the national brand programme and high-added value agricultural products.

The ministry will also innovate and strengthen trade promotions activities for key export products.

In addition, it will strengthen the information exchange mechanism at all levels, especially with trade representative offices in other countries, to capture market information and tackle issues affecting Viet Nam's exports. — VNS