Vietnam's import and export with a glorious 80-year journey

Proud to be a bright spot in the economy with high export turnover and surplus, Vietnam is continuing to aim for new goals for foreign trade activities in the coming time.

After 80 years, the country's import and export have accelerated dramatically. Photo: Hoang Hanh

37 items achieved turnover of over 1 billion USD

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade , in the early stages when the country was still divided into two regions, import and export activities did not take place much. After the complete liberation of the South, the 6th National Congress of the Party was an important milestone in the process of innovation in management and operation thinking.

Right from the first years of implementing innovation and opening up, the Resolution of the Party Congress expressed the determination that "export is the spearhead with decisive significance for many economic goals in these 5 years (1986-1990), and is also the main link of all foreign economic relations".

Thanks to strong and correct policies, in the first period, from 1991 to 2010, Vietnam's annual export growth always reached a high rate, at double digits, even reaching over 15% in some years.

If in 1991, Vietnam's total export turnover only reached 2.087 billion USD (import reached 2.338 billion USD), then in the period 2011-2020, the total export and import turnover of goods increased 2.7 times, from 203.6 billion USD in 2011 to 545.3 billion USD in 2020. The average growth in export turnover of goods reached 14.6%/year. In terms of export scale, if in 2011, Vietnam was in 41st place, by 2015 it had risen to 32nd place and by 2020 it was in 22nd place.

According to Director of the Import-Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) Nguyen Anh Son, in the past 5 years, import-export activities have continuously faced many challenges, with rapid, multi-faceted, unpredictable fluctuations of the world economy, low demand for imported goods, fierce competition and many trade protection measures, especially in large markets.

However, import-export activities are still a positive bright spot. This reflects the high growth in domestic production capacity, the favorable investment, production and business environment and the positive results of international economic integration. Vietnam's total export turnover has reached 786.9 billion USD in 2024. Export growth in the period 2020 - 2024 will reach an average of 9.6% per year.

In the period 2020 - 2024, the trade balance always achieved a surplus, with 2024 being the 9th consecutive year that Vietnam achieved a trade surplus. After 80 years, the structure of exported goods has maintained a trend of reducing the content of raw exports, mainly exporting processed products and industrial products. The proportion of export value of processed industrial goods is about 85% of export turnover over the years.

The export structure has also been diversified. The number of items with export turnover of over 1 billion USD has gradually increased, from 21 items in 2011, to 25 in 2016 and 31 items in 2020, and then to 37 items in 2024. In 2024 alone, the number of items with export turnover of over 2 billion USD will be 28, the number of items with turnover of over 5 billion USD will be 14 and the number of items with turnover of over 10 billion USD will be 8.

Aiming for new records

From a low-starting economy importing many types of goods, Vietnam has risen dramatically, entering the top 20 economies with the largest trade scale in the world. Currently, Vietnam's export goods are present in nearly 200 countries and territories, including large and demanding markets such as the US, Japan and the EU.

Hoa Phat Group's steel products are exported to 40 markets around the world. *Photo: Tran Nghi*

After 80 years, not only making important contributions to GDP growth and improving the foreign trade balance, import and export activities have contributed to improving the quality of economic growth, creating jobs, expanding economic and cultural integration, and enhancing Vietnam's position in the international arena.

Director of the Import-Export Department Nguyen Anh Son commented that the period 2025 - 2030 will witness an increase in global strategic competition in resources, markets, technology and high-quality human resources. Sustainable development, green growth and circular economy have become inevitable trends in the world.

Vietnam will proactively adapt flexibly, take advantage of opportunities to shift supply chains and protect businesses from geopolitical risks and protectionism. The three key factors identified are market diversification, strengthening internal strength and technology transformation to continue increasing exports.

According to experts, with its new position established, Vietnam needs to aim for production and export that is not only large in scale, aiming for new records, but also needs to meet increasingly high standards in the new context.

These are the strict regulations of the European Union market on combating IUU fishing for seafood, the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM); food safety regulations of Japan, Korea... Therefore, green export is a mandatory orientation of Vietnamese enterprises to accelerate exports and ensure a sustainable future.

Since the beginning of the year, the new US tax policies have had a multi-faceted impact on the global economy and supply chain as well as Vietnam's production and import-export activities. This is the time when the domestic manufacturing industry needs to have timely countermeasures and be ready to respond to new fluctuations.

According to economic expert, Dr. Nguyen Quoc Phuong, Vietnam needs to strongly shift the entire economy from export processing to the production of export products with high localization rates, high technology content, and high added value, that is, the economy grows in depth based on science, technology, and innovation.

"In addition, businesses need to diversify their markets, bringing goods to markets with great potential such as the Middle East, Africa, South America... in addition to traditional markets. This helps reduce risks when goods are dependent on one market," Mr. Phuong said.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/xuat-nhap-khau-viet-nam-voi-hanh-trinh-80-nam-rang-ro-714697.html