Vietnam Ministry Aims to Cut Import Value Target

Text of report in English by Vietnamese news agency VNA website

Hanoi (VNA) -The Ministry of Industry and Trade says the country’s import value will reach 80.2 billion USD this year, a 6.5 billion USD decrease compared to the expected figure.

The trend of decreasing imports was attributed to the government’s import prevention measures, including the increase on import tax rates on a number of unessential goods. Importers are also considering reducing imports due to unfavourable exchange rates and strictly controlling the foreign exchange market.

The value of necessary import products such as steel, petrol, machinery and equipment, normal metals, fertilizers and paper pulp is estimated to reach 63 billion USD, increasing 28.4 per cent over last year but reducing by 4.2 billion USD compared to the plan. It represents 78.6 per cent of the country’s import value.

The import value of products under control, including coke coal and petro-chemical products, gem stones, gold and diamond, is expected to reach 12.9 billion USD, a 32.9 per cent increase over last year but reduction of 1.5 billion USD compared to the plan. This represents 16.1 per cent of the total import value.

For restricted import products including tobacco, consumer goods, completed vehicles and motorbike parts, the export value was estimated at 4.25 billion USD, a 9.5 per cent increase over last year but 800 million USD lower than expected, and representing 5.3 per cent of the total import value.

The biggest reduction was seen in the import of up-to 12-seat cars.

Originally published by VNA news agency website, Hanoi, in English 15 Jul 08.

(c) 2008 BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.