According to statistics from the Import-Export Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade, the total import-export turnover between Vietnam and the Philippines by the end of November 2024 has officially exceeded 8 billion USD (8.042 billion USD).

Specifically, Vietnam’s export turnover to the Philippine market in the first 11 months of 2024 reached 5.758 billion USD, an increase of 22.8% over the same period in 2023, and import turnover from the Philippines to Vietnam reached 2.284 billion USD, a decrease of 5% over the same period in 2023.

In particular, if compared with Vietnam’s export results to the Philippine market in the previous 2 years (in 2022, Vietnam had a trade surplus of 2.4 billion USD; in 2023, Vietnam had a trade surplus of 2.5 billion USD), then in just 11 months of 2024, Vietnam had a trade surplus of 3.474 billion USD to the Philippine market.

“This is an impressive growth in the context that Vietnam is looking for new directions for exporting goods, helping to reduce difficulties and pressure for domestic manufacturing enterprises,” the Vietnam Trade Office in the Philippines emphasized.

Contributing to the impressive growth of Vietnam’s export turnover to the Philippine market in the first 11 months of 2024, the first to mention is rice, with export turnover after the first 11 months of 2024 reaching nearly 2.5 billion USD, an increase of 57.2% over the same period in 2023.

Some other items with large export turnover to the Philippine market include: machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts reaching nearly 360 million USD; clinker and cement reaching nearly 300 million USD; coffee reaching over 250 million USD; phones of all kinds and components reaching nearly 206 million USD; means of transport and spare parts reaching over 182 million USD; computers, electronic products and components reached nearly 176 million USD; textiles and garments reached over 123 million USD.

Export items with turnover from over 50 million USD to under 100 million USD include: seafood reaching over 98 million USD; footwear of all kinds reaching over 97 million USD; iron and steel of all kinds reaching over 93 million USD; chemicals reaching nearly 74 million USD; iron and steel products reaching nearly 64 million USD; plastic products reaching over 62 million USD; fibers and yarns of all kinds reaching over 75 million USD; electric wires and cables reaching nearly 60 million USD.

Some items with export turnover after 11 months of 2024 increased compared to the same period last year include coffee up 86%; pepper up 40.1%; plastic raw materials up 63.87%; fertilizers of all kinds up 73%; cameras, camcorders and components increased by 64.8%; phones of all kinds and components increased by 40.8%; iron and steel products increased by 84.3%.

On the contrary, some items with large import turnover from the Philippine market after the first 11 months of 2024 include: computers, electronic products and components reaching over 1.43 billion USD; machinery, equipment, tools, other spare parts reaching nearly 254 million USD; common metals reaching over 148 million USD; electric wires and cables reaching nearly 87 million USD and aquatic products reaching over 35 million USD.

It can be said that after many years of trade between Vietnam and the Philippines with import-export turnover only at a modest level of under 8 billion USD and no breakthroughs due to many subjective and objective reasons, especially businesses on both sides have not really seen the potential of the two markets, except for rice.

However, since the end of 2022, after the Covid-19 pandemic ended, realizing that the Philippines is a market with great potential for Vietnam’s export goods, with the close attention and direction of the Minister and leaders of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the direction, support and good coordination from units under the Ministry of Industry and Trade and businesses and associations, the Vietnam Trade Office in the Philippines has implemented many activities to promote the image of the country, people and products/goods of Vietnam to Philippine customers, partners and consumers.

Through promoting trade promotion activities, it has gradually helped the business communities of both sides overcome ideological “prejudices”, thereby untiing, opening up and creating a premise for larger investment and trade plans of businesses of the two countries.

Not only Philippine businesses, Vietnamese businesses have also boldly explored the potential, penetrated and invested in the markets of both sides. In particular, Vingroup has decided to take the Philippines as a key market in ASEAN by opening the electric vehicle and taxi service market in the Philippines, although it had no idea and no plan to explore the Philippine market before.

In addition, the reopening of direct flights from Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City to Manila, Philippines by Vietnam Airlines with the support of the Vietnam Trade Office in the Philippines will also contribute to making it more convenient for traders and businesses on both sides.

“This positive result, along with the import-export activities between the two sides continuously increasing in the last month of the year, shows that the forecast of total import-export turnover between Vietnam and the Philippines in 2024 will reach about 8.5 billion USD, of which a trade surplus of over 3 billion USD is completely possible,” the Vietnam Trade Office in the Philippines affirmed.

Source: VNECONOMY.VN