The revenue is equal to 89.8% of the year’s estimate and 86.74% of the expectation. 

According to the GDVC, Vietnam’s trade turnover in the January – October period reached US$394.11 billion, up 13% year-on-year. Of the total, exports amounted to US$200.27 billion, up 14.2% year-on-year and imports US$193.84 billion, up 11.8%. 

This resulted in a trade surplus of US$6.43 billion during the period. 

In October, Vietnam’s trade revenue reached US$41.5 billion, up 2.1% month-on-month, in which exports stood at US$20.8 billion, down 1.5% month-on-month and imports US$20.7 billion, up 6.1%. 

During the first ten months of 2018, some Vietnamese export staples witnessed strong growth, including phones and parts with US$40.69 billion, up 10.6% year-on-year; textile & garment US$25.15 billion, up 17.1%; computers, electronic devices and parts US$24.28 billion, up 15.16%. 

In a meeting on April 6, Luu Manh Tuong, director of the Import – Export Department, said it would be challenging to achieve the revenue target of VND283 trillion (US$12.5 billion) and the expectation of VND293 trillion (US$12.9 billion) in 2018. 

Specifically, forgone revenue from FTAs in 2018 is expected at VND30.1 trillion (US$1.3 billion).

Additionally, the import tariffs for auto parts will be removed as stipulated in the ASEAN trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) and the ASEAN – China Free Trade Area (ACFTA), import tariffs, thus will be refunded to enterprises.

To achieve revenue target in 2018, Tuong stressed the necessity of creating favorable conditions for enterprises and preventing them from exploiting loopholes in policies. Concurrently, it is essential to timely identify smuggling and trade fraud activities to avoid losses of state budget.