Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s participation in ASEAN 25 years agohas helped the country enjoy strong growth in trade with other member nations.

Since Vietnam became an official member of ASEANon July 28, 1995, bilateral trade has increased sharply, making ASEAN thefourth largest importer of Vietnam at present, following the US, the EU andChina.

In 2019, the trade value reached 57.3 billionUSD, up 1.1 percent from a year earlier. That consisted of 25.2 billion USD ofVietnam’s exports, rising 1.5 percent and accounting for 9.6 percent of thecountry’s total overseas shipments, and 32.1 billion USD of imports from ASEAN,up 0.9 percent year-on-year and making up 12.7 percent of total imports.

The trade deficit of 6.85 billion USD last yearfell 1.3 percent from 2018.

Among ASEAN markets, Vietnam mainly shipsproducts to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, andIndonesia. 

Its key export items include steel; mobilephones and components; computers, electronic products and components;machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts, and textile-garment products.

Director of the Foreign Ministry’s ASEANDepartment Vu Ho said Vietnam’s integration into ASEAN has been carried out effectively,contributing to economic growth over the last more than 25 years.

In 1995, Vietnam joined the ASEAN Free TradeArea (AFTA) and negotiated to sign the Common Effective Preferential TariffScheme for the AFTA. Without the AFTA, Vietnam might not have been able to inkthe free trade agreement with the EU and the bilateral trade agreement with theUS.

Taking part in ASEAN was a preparatory step forVietnam to participating in others on a larger scale, Ho noted.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade(MoIT), ASEAN is a market not only in close proximity to Vietnam but alsosharing similarities in culture and consumer habits. It is home to 636 millionpeople and has combined GDP of 2.76 trillion USD. 

Therefore, there remains huge room for boostingthe export of Vietnamese goods to ASEAN countries, the ministry said.

Besides, the country’s main imports from thebloc include computers, electronic products and components; petrol; machinery,equipment, tools and spare parts; raw plastics; base metal; and chemicals.

While many domestic production industries haveyet to ensure sufficient supplies of input material, the ASEAN market hascreated chances for Vietnamese firms to seek abundant material supplies withreasonable prices and access capital sources and high technologies, thushelping them reduce production cost and improve product quality.

Nguyen Cam Trang, Deputy Director of the MoIT’sExport-Import Department, said amid current difficulties in exports to the USand the EU, stepping up the capitalisation on the ASEAN market is a commontrend shared by many businesses, and this is also a good way to diversifyexport destinations and avoid dependence on certain markets./.