Viet Nam’s import-export turnover by November 15 was on the threshold of US$300 billion, up $100 billion against 2011, the latest preliminary statistics from the General Department of Customs showed.

Of the total, export turnover was more than $151.48 billion, up 7.5 per cent year-on-year, while import value rose 3.1 per cent to $148.82 billion.

The country’s trade surplus by November 15, therefore, was $2.66 billion, the department noted.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) firms made up nearly $194.52 billion of the country’s total import and export turnover, up $12.61 billion against the same period last year.

The FDI firms’ trade surplus was more than $18.24 billion in the period, as they fetched more than $95.06 billion from exports, up 10 per cent year-on-year, while spending nearly $88.14 billion for imports, up 2.9 per cent.

According to the department, FDI firms’ export value accounted for 70.2 per cent of the country’s total export turnover, while their import value represented 59.2 per cent of the total import turnover. — VNS