The first eight months of 2019 was a pure success for Vietnam as the country posted a trade surplus of $1.7 billion, the General Statistics Office revealed on Thursday. Experts said the numbers were driven largely by exports in the phones and parts segments.
According to Nhan Dan, during the past eight months, phone components and smartphone exports accounted for around 19.4 percent of the country's export revenue, reaching a total amount of $33 billion.
Analysts said the hike in exports was also propelled by the China-U.S. trade war. More companies are seeking tech products from Vietnam as they avoid tariffs both in China and the United States.
While tech-related products helped drive growth in the Vietnamese export sector, there were 26 types of goods that made significant increases in revenue. These products posted over $1 billion in revenue each, allowing for the country's January to August export profits to surpass $336 billion.
The top five countries that accounted for the largest orders from Vietnam are the U.S., European Union (EU), China, the ASEAN member nations, and Japan. The said regions increased importing activity from Vietnamese providers.
Despite the good news in the smartphone sector, the coffee segment is believed to have slumped dramatically. The government also announced on Thursday that coffee exports may have dropped by around 10.3 percent compared to records from 2018.
The statistics office also predicted that export revenue of coffee beans may slip by 20 percent for the January to August period. So far, shipments of coffee products are valued at $220 million.
On the other hand, a few other segments saw slight improvements over the past eight months. Rice exports are believed to have reached $252 million. Vietnam remains the world's third-largest exporter of rice grains.
Meanwhile, some economists still believe that Vietnam has what it takes to become an Asian powerhouse as long as the China-U.S. trade war ensues. The country is one of the main options for many business escaping tariffs.
Electronics investments are believed to be one of the main reasons why the Vietnamese economy is gaining a better position in global markets. Investors are drawn to the country due to its flexible policies for foreign companies as well as lower labor costs.
It hasn't even been a decade when Vietnam made the biggest jumps in the ASEAN region's top electronics exporter list. Based on margins, the country is slightly behind Malaysia. Still, the frog leap is one of the main attractions that investors trust in.
Vietnam posted stellar GDP growth last year, surpassing the seven percent mark and making it the second-fastest Asian economy to rise despite global trade disputes.
