Vietnam’s exports in 2020 remain buoyant despite coronavirus: trade ministry

Vietnam is projected to export US$267 billion worth of goods in 2020, up 1% from the previous year, despite the adverse impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the global economy.

Vietnam's export revenue is expected to reach US$267 billion in 2020.
Vietnam's export revenue is expected to reach US$267 billion in 2020.

The forecast was made by the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) at a conference held in Can Tho Province on December 4.

Vietnam already posted export revenue of US$254.6 billion in the first 11 months of 2020, up 3.5% year-on-year, and registered a record-high trade surplus of US$20.1 billion.

Vietrade Director Vu Ba Phu said that trade promotion activities went smoothly in the early months of 2020 but then began to face difficulties from March onwards with numerous conferences, workshops and trade fairs having been cancelled or postponed.

He noted that as growth in most economies in the world falls into the negative territory, Vietnam’s expected 1% export growth is highly encouraging, which comes as a result of the significant efforts by the government and business community.

Speaking at the conference, MOIT Deputy Minister Do Thang Hai asked Vietrade to increase the use of information technology and step up both offline and online trade promotion events so that exports are not interrupted by Covid-19.

He added that the agency needs to support Vietnamese enterprises to tap into new opportunities and enhance their competitiveness in the context of the pandemic and international integration.