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In the January-April period, the domestic economic sector suffered a trade deficit of 9.2 billion USD, while the foreign-invested sector enjoyed a surplus of 11.73 billion USD.

The export revenue in April reached 33.26 billion USD, down 4.2 percent from the previous month but up 25 percent year on year. The figure hit 122.36 billion USD in the first four months, a rise of 16.4 percent over the same period last year.

So far this year, 22 goods groups have seen export revenue exceeding 1 billion USD, including five each with a revenue of over 5 billion USD. Exports of fuel and mineral products accounted for 1.3 percent of the total export revenue, while contribution from processing sector is 89 percent, and that of the agro-forestry and fisheries sectors, 6.8 percent and 2.9 percent.

According to the GSO, the country’s imports were 32.19 billion USD in April and 119.83 billion USD in four months, mostly production materials.

In the first four months of this year, the US remained the largest export market of Vietnam with 35.7 billion USD, while China was the largest goods supplier with 37.1 billion USD worth of goods.

In the period, trade surplus generated from the EU market was 10.4 billion USD, up 36.1 percent year on year.

In order to promote export in the time to come, the Ministry of Industry and Trade reminded exporters to apply measures against risks while trading with foreign businesses.

Domestic exporters were also advised to optimise advantages from 15 free trade agreements that Vietnam has signed to diversify markets./.