Exports of Vietnam’s industrial products, services and agriculture products have been increasing sharply over the first months of this year.

Industries that have posted the highest growth are footwear, 46 percent higher than last year, and wood and wood furniture, up 36 percent. In the first seven months of the year Vietnam has earned more than US$1.2 billion from exports of wooden furniture, the figure exceeding the target set for 2010.

In the first seven months of this year Vietnam has overtaken the Philippines to rank fourth among Southeast Asian nations in wooden furniture exports, closely following Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

Exports to the EU are likely to see growth of 32 percent from last year, with a 67 percent growth in textiles and garments.

Viet Nam earned 40 million USD from the export of plastic products in May, bringing the total value of plastic exports in the first five months of 2006 to 173 million USD, a year-on-year increase of 30.1 percent, the Ministry of Industry (MoI) reported.

Despite a rise in material prices, exports to Cambodia, Laos and the Philippines maintained a high growth rate.

According to the MoI, coal exports surpassed the target for the whole year, with a total of 15.8 million tonnes worth 501 million USD in the first seven months.

PetroVietnam's total turnover in the reviewed period is estimated to reach 82.3 trillion VND, equal to 117 percent of the figure in the same period in 2005, said General Director Tran Ngoc Canh from the Vietnam Oil and Gas Cooperation (PetroVietnam).

The national export turnover of services in the first seven months was estimated at 2.98 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 29.1%, and import turnover of services reached 3.33 billion USD, up 19.5%, said the Ministry of Trade.

The amount of foreign tourists coming to Vietnam is estimated at 2.15 million this year, a rise of 7% against the same period last year.

Agriculture export in the first six months of this year included 76,000 tonnes of pepper, which earned 108 million USD. These figures showed a year-on-year increases of 37 percent in terms of volume and 44 percent in terms of value, said the Vietnam Pepper Association.

According to the Ministry of Trade rice exports reached 3.3 million tonnes with a value of 905 million at the end of July, a decrease of 5%, both in quantity and value.

Coffee export turnover stood at 652 million USD, up nearly 30% despite a decrease of 13% in quantity. This was thanks to a rise of 40% in coffee prices over 2005.

Seafood exports reached a record high in July, generating 280 million USD. According to the Ministry of Fisheries, a sharp rise in the value of exports to Eastern European nations was reported. Seafood exports to Russia fetched almost 61 million USD (a 5.34 fold increase); to Ukraine, almost 7 million USD (an 18 fold increase); and to Poland, more than 37 million USD (a 13 fold increase).

Source: www.cpv.org.vn