The first eight months of 2017 saw strong growth of Vietnam’s main exports. Exports of phones and components were up 14.8 per cent, garments were up 7.2 per cent, footwear up 13 per cent, seafood up 19.2 per cent, wood and wooden products up 10.6 per cent and vegetables and fruits up 48 per cent.

Export turnover in the eight months rose 17.9 per cent year-on-year. Of this, exports by the domestic sector saw a 15.7 per cent increase while those of the foreign-invested sector were up 18.9 per cent.

The US remained the largest consumer of Vietnamese goods followed by the EU and China. But China’s share of Vietnam’s imports saw a year-on-year surge of 14.7 per cent.

Import value registered a year-on-year surge of 33.5 per cent for machines, equipment, tools and components, 33.3 per cent for telephone and its components, 24.8 per cent for electronic products, computers and components and 16.3 per cent for steel.

Import turnover during the first eight months jumped by 22.3 per cent year-on-year, with imports by the domestic sector showing a 18.4 per cent increase while those of the foreign-invested sector increased by 25 per cent.

Vietnam is changing the rate of import tax and export tax for certain goods.