Although Vietnam has stepped up exports to ASEAN, the country ran a trade deficit of US$6.51 billion with the region last year, according to data of the General Department of Vietnam Customs. Vietnam’s trade with other ASEAN countries totaled US$49.53 billion last year, up 19.6% over 2016 and accounting for 11.7% of the country’s total foreign trade. Export growth outpaced import growth but the country still incurred a yawning trade deficit with the region. The country exported US$21.51 billion worth of products to other Southeast Asian countries, growing 23.9% against the previous year, while imports grew by 16.4% year-on-year to US$28.02 billion. The surge in exports to ASEAN is thanks to higher export revenues from mobile phones and phone parts (up US$948 million), iron and steel products (up US$722 million), computers, electronic products and components (up US$488 million), crude oil (up US$378 million), and textiles-garments (up US$181 million). Meanwhile, Vietnam … [Read more...] about BUSINESS IN BRIEF 27/3
Los angeles garment factory
BUSINESS IN BRIEF 2/5
New corrections weaken market uptrend After the release of positive data related to the consumer price index and trade deficit, shares rebounded on both national stock exchanges last week. "However, the economy does not seem to be brighter as the ease in the index was mainly due to spending reduction, decreasing industrial production and more inventory," commented FPT Securities Co analyst Le Thi Bich Hang. On the HCM City Stock Exchange, the VN-Index closed the month of April at 473.77 points, up 1.85 per cent over the previous week. Daily market value on the bourse averaged VND1.34 trillion (US$63.8 million), or 67 per cent of the previous week's figure. Meanwhile, on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the average value of trades in a session totalled VND734.7 billion ($34.98 million), declining 26.5 per cent compared to the previous Friday's close. The HNX-Index added 2.6 per cent to 79.86 points. Speculative cash flow was fairly strong last week, said Hang, focusing on penny stocks. … [Read more...] about BUSINESS IN BRIEF 2/5
BUSINESS IN BRIEF 21/3
Europe to channel investment into Vietnam Investors are retrieving their capital from Greece, Italy and Spain and other European Union countries to be channelled into Vietnam this year, said Radio the Voice of Russia on March 14. Experts said Vietnam's socio-political stability is an important decisive factor for investors. The country's poverty rate fell from 58 percent in the early 1990s to 9.5 percent in 2010. In addition, Vietnam jumped 16 steps to rank 61st in the 2010 Legatum Prosperity Index Table Ranking of the London-based Legatum Institute. According to a Bloomberg News forecast, in future, Vietnam's economic development prospects will be ranked third in Asia after China and India. In the meantime, Seekingalpha website said Vietnam has recently captured the attention of investors because of its sizeable population of 90 million and its rapidly growing middle class. Because Vietnam's population is young - more than half the country is under 30 — this … [Read more...] about BUSINESS IN BRIEF 21/3