Vietnam Unlikely to Meet 10% Export Growth Target in 2016

Vietnam is unlikely to meet 10% export growth target in 2016, Vietnamese trade minister Tran Tuan Anh said on Monday. 
In the first ten months of this year, Vietnam's total export value reached 143.9 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 7%, according to China's (Xinhua) News Agency. 
Of this sum, the agro-forestry-fishery sector had a breakthrough growth in export value at 7.9% to 18.3 billion US dollars, while in first ten months of 2015, the sector saw a year-on-year reduction of 9.7%, Industry and Trade Minister Tran Tuan Anh was quoted by the state-run news agency VNA as saying. 
However, the 10% target will not be met because unstable politics in key export markets have reduced demand and prices, said the minister. 
Anh attributed the missed target to some major factors. Firstly, Vietnamese goods are facing tougher competition by other exporting countries which have promoted solutions to increase exports. 
Secondly, importers of Vietnamese goods have applied technical barriers and increased demands regarding the quality of imports, especially farming and fishery products, while disadvantages in weather have also affected the supply and quality of these products. 
Thirdly, Vietnamese supply industries are not strong enough for key export industrial products, such as mobile phones, textiles, garments, leather and footwear. The country must depend on imports of material for production, leaving Vietnam's export products susceptible to price fluctuations of raw materials on the world market. 
In order to solve these problems, the ministry would focus on implementing effective trade promotion programs for export products facing difficulties in price and market. The ministry will also build trademarks for some key export products such as textiles, seafood, fruits and rice to enhance their competitiveness, said Anh.