Update: July, 18/2020 – 07:18|VNS
Workers of Foster Electric Vietnam Co Ltd on a production line. The total import-export value of the whole country in June reached US$43.28 billion, up 15.8 per cent over May. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất
HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam recorded a trade surplus of US$5.46 billion in the first half of this year, the highest six-month surplus ever recorded, data of the General Department of Customs this week showed.
Việt Nam’s import and export activities recovered strongly in June, signalling a more optimistic outlook for the country’s foreign trade in the latter half of this year, especially as many countries have started easing COVID-19 control measures and are accelerating the recovery process.
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Pandemic-hit Indian exporters, especially in labour-intensive sectors, are expecting their fortune to plummet further, as key competitor Vietnam has clinched a free trade agreement (FTA) with the EU.
The pact will raise competition between the Asian rivals for the lucrative EU market in a range of products such as garments, footwear, marine products, plastics, rubber, leather and coffee (See the chart). Importantly, Vietnam will get duty-free access to the EU for 71% of its goods from day one and 99% after seven years but Indian supplies will continue to attract up to 9.6% duty (the maximum, among the products from labour-intensive sectors, is on garments).
A man works at an assembly line of Vinfast Auto factory in Hai Phong city, Vietnam, June 14, 2019. (Reuters file photo)
Vietnam’s economy unexpectedly grew in the second quarter, though at the slowest pace in at least a decade, as exports slumped because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Gross domestic product rose 0.36% from a year earlier, compared with a revised 3.68% in the first quarter, the General Statistics Office said Monday in Hanoi. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists was for GDP to shrink 0.9%.
Vietnam’s export-reliant economy is taking a knock as the virus disrupts global supply chains and hurts demand, but is still likely to be one of the better performers in Southeast Asia this year.
Cảnh buôn bán trên một con phố Hà Nội khi về đêm. Ảnh: CNN Travel
Fifteen Vietnamese banks have recently been named in The Asian Bankers’ AB500 ranking and survey of Asia Pacific’s strongest banks.
The banks include Vietcombank, BIDV, VietinBank and Techcombank, as well as MB, LienVietPostBank, ACB and VPBank, in addition to HDBank, TP Bank, SHB, VIB, SeABank, Sacombank and PVcomBank.
Đọt Chuối Non 