Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam witnessed declines in both exports and imports in thefirst four months of 2023, and exploring new markets is now considered one of the solutions to foreign trade bottlenecks.

Difficultiesfacing the world economy continued affecting Vietnam’s foreign trade in April, as trade value totaled 53.57 billion USD, falling 7.7% month onmonth and 18.8% year on year.

Itstood at 210.79 billion USD in the first four months, down 13.6% from a year earlier(compared to an increase of 16.6% recorded in the same period last year),according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

TheMoIT blamed that fact on different causes, including high inflation in manycountries and nosediving purchasing power, especially in terms of non-essentialgoods.

Suchsectors as textile - garment, leather - footwear, wood, and fisheries whosemain markets are the US and the EU experienced the sharpest decreases in overseasshipments.

Besides,input factors like materials, personnel, and transportation saw surging costswhile export prices remained almost unchanged, undermining the competitivenessof products.

Meanwhile,imports were estimated at 26.03 billion USD in April and 102.22 billion USD inthe first four months, respectively dropping 8.1% month on month and 15.4% yearon year (compared to the growth of 16.1% in the same period last year).

Materialsserving domestic production accounted for up to 88 billion USD, or 86% of the four-monthimport turnover. The import value of this group of commodities fell 18% from ayear earlier due to the shortage of orders, the MoIT pointed out.

Toaddress those difficulties, it will connect domestic enterprises andbusiness associations with Vietnam’s trade offices abroad to address theirconcerns.

The ministry will also reform and step up trade promotion in new and potential markets suchas India, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, as wellas those less affected by high inflation and holding positive growth prospects like the ones of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Themarkets with an expanding middle class, including the Emerging 7 (E7) countries(China, India, Turkey, Russia, Mexico, Indonesia, and Brazil) and Halal marketslike the Middle East, Malaysia, and Brunei, will also be tapped into, the MoITadded.

Diversifyingmarkets is also a path chosen by many enterprises.

TheCong Thuong (Industry & Trade) newspaper cited Than Duc Viet, GeneralDirector of the Garment 10 Corporation, as saying that aside from traditionalmarkets, his firm will also move to successfully enter new and potential onessuch as Africa, the Middle East, and China.

Inaddition, the company will boost restructuring, digital transformation, and theuse of renewable energy and green materials. It will also offer more suitableproducts with competitive prices to the domestic market, he noted./.