Vietnam has set a goal of achieving an average export growth rate of 6-7 percent in the 2021-30 period, following the Government's strategy on import and export released recently.

Specifically, the country sets an annual average export growth goal of 8-9 percent between 2021 and 2025 and 5-6 percent in the subsequent five years.

Meanwhile, annual import growth is expected to average 5-6 percent in 2021-30. The growth will be 7-8 percent in 2021-25 and 4-5 percent in the following five years.

Under the strategy, the State expects to achieve a trade balance by 2025 and a sustainable trade surplus by 2030 period.

Manufactured and processed products will account for 88 percent of export turnover by 2025 and 90 percent by 2030 with the proportion of exported medium and high-tech goods reaching about 65 percent by 2025 and 70 percent by 2030.

By 2025, Asia will make up 49-50 percent of the country's total export turnover, 46-47 percent by 2030. It will be followed by the Americas with 32-33 percent by 2025 and 33-34 percent by 2030 and Europe with 16-17 percent by 2025 and 18-19 percent by 2030.

The Government targets increasing the proportion of value-added, high-tech, green, and environmentally friendly products, pursuant to the strategy.

For agro, forestry and fishery goods, the strategy's goal is to increase the proportion of deeply processed products with high economic value; improve their abilities to meet regulations, quality standards, food hygiene and safety, standards of social responsibility and environment; proactively adapt and overcome trade barriers and trade remedies in foreign markets.

In terms of the industrial goods, the top priority will be given to increasing the domestic value of exported goods while reducing dependence on imported raw materials, spare parts and components.

The strategy also emphasises the importance of controlling the export of domestically produced goods, luxury goods, and non-essential products while facilitating the import of modern machinery and equipment, and advanced production lines from countries with developed industries. This will create a premise to improve the productivity, quality and competitiveness of export products and carry out an in-depth restructuring of export goods.

Furthermore, greater efforts will be made in diversifying export markets in order to avoid excessive dependence on one market and ensure a healthy and reasonable bilateral trade balance.

Effectively exploiting opportunities brought by international economic integration commitments in free trade agreements (FTAs) to boost exports to major markets such as the EU, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and ASEAN and deeply penetrating into potential markets like the US, Russia, India, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America are parts of the strategy.

Both imports and exports rose strongly in the first quarter, according to the latest updates of the General Statistics Office.

Total trade stood at 176.35 billion USD, up 14.37 percent year-on-year, with exports rising by 12.9 percent to 88.58 billion USD and imports by 15.9 percent to 87.77 billion USD.

Most key exports achieved high growth, helping the trade balance climb into positive territory.

Major markets like the US, EU, the Republic of Korea, and Japan increased their imports of Vietnamese goods. The US was the largest export market of Vietnam in the first quarter of this year, with a revenue of 25.57 billion USD, up by 15 percent from the same period last year.

Exports to the US reached 11.21 billion USD, up 16.3 percent, ASEAN 8.1 billion USD, up by 19.9 percent, the RoK 6.26 billion USD, up 21 percent and Japan 5.4 billion USD, up 10.6 percent.

Both exports volume and value were up, especially for agricultural produce, crude oil, fertilisers and plastics.

Another 16 products joined the 1 billion USD list, in which five saw exports of more than 5 billion USD.

Experts forecast that the nation's total import-export revenue might hit a record 700 billion USD by the year-end, driven by the enforcement of new-generation FTAs.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade targeted that Vietnam would maintain a trade surplus this year and exports would grow by 6-8 percent to reach around 363 billion USD./.

Source: Vietnam Plus