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Viet Nam likely to meet 2010 export targets
The country will meet its key five- and ten-year export targets, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Under the ten-year strategy, the country’s export growth rate target should be 3.8 times higher in 2010 than in 2000. Meanwhile, last year’s growth was 4.3 times higher than in 2000, with the country reaching its goal two year’s early, the ministry said.
The Government is also confident it will meet its five-year target from 2006 to 2010. Under the plan, export turnover in 2010 must be 2.1 times higher than in 2005. Meanwhile, by 2008, it was already 1.93 times higher than that in 2005.
As for the export turnover per capita set in the 2006-10 plan, the ministry said it expected the country to meet its target by 2008, with export turnover per capita reaching US$727.8 against the $770-780 target for the five-year period.
A growth rate of 8.81 per cent was forecast for the 2009-10 period, with export turnover per capita estimated to be $773, the ministry said.
However, the ministry said the country would fail to meet its service sector growth targets for tourism and transport.
The country targeted an export turnover of $8 billion for service sectors by 2010 and roughly $34-35 billion for the 2006-10 period. Meanwhile, it gained a total export of $18.6 billion in the three years from 2006 to 2008.
The industry had predicted export turnover to reach $15.34-$16.34 billion in 2009 and 2010, but that had been derailed by the economic slowdown, the ministry said.
The General Statistics Office reported that the country in the first five months of this year earned just $2.7 million from service sector exports, down 25.7 per cent over the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the ministry anticipated no significant growth in service sector exports in the second half of this year and next year.
Despite predictions that the country will meet its key export targets, trade experts are still concerned about the quality of Viet Nam’s exports. They said the value of exported staples remained low because the country mainly exported unprocessed goods and acted only as a sub-contractor for foreign producers.
An industry insider also warned that the country’s high export growth last year and in the first half of this year was due to the re-export of steel and gold. It is estimated that last year’s export growth would be only 25 per cent against more than a reported 29 per cent thanks to an export turnover of $2 billion gained from the re-export of steel. The decrease of 18.6 per cent would also be seen in the first half of this year instead of 10.1 per cent as reported if there was no $2.5 billion from gold re-exports.
The ministry is also concerned about the country’s failure to meet import targets for 2006-10. While an import growth rate of 14.7 per cent was set for 2006-10, the figure for 2006-08 was 30 per cent.
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