Vietnam's export revenue expected to top $45.7bn US in first 4 months

Vietnam's total export revenue in the first four months of 2014 is expected to hit 45.74 billion U.S. dollars, up 16.9 percent year on year, said Vietnam's General Statistics Office (GSO) on Friday. In a breakdown, the foreign direct investment (FDI) sector is poised to collect 30.4 billion U.S. dollars from exports ( including crude oil) during the period, up 17.2 percent year on year. Cell phones and accessories appeared to remain Vietnam's largest export revenue earner with 7.7 billion U.S. dollars in the first four months, up 29.2 percent year on year, according to GSO. The country also witnessed remarkable growth in export of traditional products including garment, footwear, seafood, coffee, wood and its products, among others. In April alone, Vietnam is expected to pocket some 12.2 billion U.S. dollars from selling commodities abroad, up 23.2 percent year on year. Meanwhile, the country's imports in April are projected to reach 12.6 billion U.S. dollars worth, bringing the total import value for the first four months to 45.05 billion U.S. dollars, up 13.7 percent year on year. During January-April, FDI companies are estimated to account for some 26.3 billion U.S. dollars of Vietnam's import value, up 18.2 percent year on year. As a result, Vietnam's trade surplus in the first four months is likely to stand at 683 million U.S. dollars. During the period, the FDI sector is poised to register a trade surplus of 4.1 billion U.S. dollars, up 11.5 percent year on year, while domestic companies are expected to suffer a trade deficit of 3.4 billion U.S. dollars, down 18 percent year on year, the Bao Dau Tu (Vietnam Investment Review) quoted GSO as saying