Vietnam records 2.34 billion USD in trade surplus with UK

Hanoi, August 9 (VNA) – Vietnam’s exports to the UK in the first half of 2018 were seven times higher than imports, resulting in a surplus of 2.34 billion USD, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs. Two-way trade reached 3.12 billion USD in the period, showing a year-on-year rise of 14.2 percent. Of which, 2.73 billion USD came from Vietnam’s exports, up 14 percent. Key export products include telephones and components, garment-textile, footwear, and seafood. Telephones and components topped the list with 1.08 billion USD, accounting for up to 40 percent of the country’s total exports. Garment ranked second with nearly 348 million USD, up 4.8 percent against the same period last year, but making up only 2.6 percent of the country’s total garment exports. Footwear exports to the UK reached 325 million USD, down 2.4 percent and accounting for a mere 4.2 percent of the country’s total footwear export value. Three other exports to the UK which obtained an export value of more than 100 million USD each were seafood (127 million USD), wood and timber products (143 million USD), and electronics and components (113 million USD). In 2017, Vietnam’s shipments to the UK surged 10.7 percent to 5.4 billion USD, making the UK the eighth biggest importer of Vietnamese products, moving up one place compared to 2016. Meanwhile, the country imported 739 million USD worth of goods from the UK, a slight increase of 2.1 percent. Statistics showed that the UK was among the 15 biggest trade partners of Vietnam in the 2013-2017 period with bilateral trade increasing to 6.15 billion USD in 2017 from 4.27 billion USD in 2013. Notably, Vietnam always ran a trade surplus with the European country in the period. Specifically, Vietnam exported 3.7 billion USD worth of goods to the UK in 2013, six times higher than imports. In 2014, Vietnam posted a trade surplus of 3 billion USD with the UK, which increased in the following years and hit 4.68 billion USD in 2017./.