HANOI, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam reaped export turnovers of over 100.7 billion U.S. dollars in the first five months of this year, seeing a year-on-year increase of 6.7 percent, while making import turnovers of nearly 101.3 billion U.S. dollars, up 10.3 percent, its General Statistics Office said on Wednesday.
Specifically, Vietnam gained 19.9 billion U.S. dollars from exporting phones and their components, up 3 percent; 12.3 billion U.S. dollars from computers and components, up 11.1 percent; 12.1 billion U.S. dollars from garments and textiles, up 10.3 percent; and 7.1 billion U.S. dollars from footwear, up 14.3 percent.
Between January and May, the United States remained Vietnam's biggest importer with turnovers of 22.6 billion U.S. dollars, tailed by the European Union with 17.3 billion U.S. dollars, and China with 13.4 billion U.S. dollars, the office said.
In the same period, Vietnam spent 19.8 billion U.S. dollars on importing electronic appliances and components, up 17.3 percent; 14.8 billion U.S. dollars on machines, equipment and spare parts, up 14.9 percent; 5.4 billion U.S. dollars on cloth, up 5.8 percent; and 4.1 billion U.S. dollars on iron and steel, up 0.7 percent.
Meanwhile, China was Vietnam's largest exporter with turnovers of 29.6 billion U.S. dollars, up 18.9 percent, followed by South Korea with 19.2 billion U.S. dollars, up 1.1 percent, and the ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) with 13.9 billion U.S. dollars, up 9.3 percent, according to the office.
Vietnam reaped export turnovers of over 243.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2018, up 13.2 percent against 2017, and import turnovers of 236.7 billion U.S. dollars, up 11.1 percent, seeing a trade surplus of 6.8 billion U.S. dollars.
