Vietnam - Laos trade turnover enjoys growth in first 5 months

Vietnam – Laos trade turnover increased again in the first five months of 2021 after a decline posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Vietnam Trade Office in Laos.

Malie Nguyen

Dieuhuong270198@gmail.com June 19, 2021 | 07:10

	Lao provides financial support for Vietnam northern provinces
	Laos donates US$ 30,000 in aid to Vietnam’s COVID fight
	Vietnamese, Lao Party commissions strengthen cooperation

Vietnam - Laos trade turnover enjoys growth in first 5 months

Garment is one of Vietnam's main exports to Laos. Photo: VNA

Vietnam – Laos trade turnover in the first five months of 2021 reached more than US$ 570 million, representing a 25% year-on-year increase. Export turnover surpassed US$ 280 million, up 23% while export turnover stood at over US$ 290 million, up 59%. Bilateral trade turnover increased 16% compared to the same period in 2019, when the pandemic hadn’t yet broken out, according to Vietnamplus.

In May alone, the two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and Laos hit over US$ 113 million, up nearly 57% against the same period last year. Import turnover posted growth of almost 84%.

Vietnam’s major exported items included machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts reaching US$ 13.4 million, ceramics worth over US$ 1 million, garment-textile at US$ 900.000, iron and steel at nearly US$ 6.8 million and petrol and oil at US$ 1.9 million.

A clean banana preliminary processing facility in Laos. Photo: VOV

Meanwhile, Vietnam mainly imported from Laos items comprising wood and wood products worth US$ 10.3 million, ores and minerals valued at US$ 9.1 million and rubber at US$ 9.8 million.

Le Thi Phuong Hoa, Trade Counsellor of the Vietnamese Embassy in Laos said the bilateral trade was expected to rise slightly next month because the two countries had grappled with the Covid-19 pandemic.

To provide support to businesses, the Vietnam Trade Office in Laos has made a list of Vietnamese enterprises wanting to promote their products in Laos, helped them to seek distributors and deal with difficulties in goods transportation, Hoa said.

Previously, on June 6, Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son held talks with his Lao counterpart Saleumxay Kommasith, during which they agreed to step up the implementation of transport infrastructure projects to take advantage of Lao-Viet International Port.

The two ministers met each other on the sidelines of the Special ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Celebration of the 30th Anniversary of Dialogue Relations and the sixth Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Chongqing, China.

The two leaders agreed to promote exchanges of delegations at all levels in various forms and continue to promote bilateral cooperation mechanisms, especially intergovernmental committee meetings, and deepen ties in defense, security, trade and investment.

They spent a lot of time discussing the implementation of key partnership programs, especially transport-connecting projects to take advantage of Lao-Viet International Port or also known as Vung Ang Port.

Laos applauds Vietnamese medical experts in Covid-19 fight

A ceremony was held by the Lao health ministry in Vientiane on May 23 to honour Vietnamese health experts who have been sent to help ...

Vietnam-Laos Friendship Association offers more support to help Laos fight Covid-19

The Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations and the Vietnam-Laos Friendship Association on Wednesday donated more than 600 million VND (more than 26,000 USD) in financial ...