The General Department of Vietnam Customs yesterday announced that the country imported commodities worth US$12.6 billion in Jan, a decrease of 12 percent compared to last month and 10.7 percent compared to the same period last year.
Meantime, export turnover reached nearly US$13.4 billion, a decrease of 2.7 percent compared to the month before and 1 percent compared to the same period last year.
The country achieved a trade surplus of US$765 million. Foreign-invested enterprises still hold large amount in trade turnover with more than US$9 billion for export and US$7.18 billion for import, 0.9 percent and 13 percent lower than that in the same period last year.
Though import turnover decreased by 14.5 percent, machines, equipment and accessories were most bought in January, worth US$2.14 billion. Next are computers, electronic products and accessories achieving US$1.96 billion, an increase of 1.5 percent.
Noticeably, 5,855 cars were imported into Vietnam worth US$149 million, a decrease of 19 percent on value and 39 percent on quantity compared to the same period last year.
