Vietnam’s trade ties with the Group of Seven countries has been growing rapidly over the last ten years, with the Southeast Asian country posting healthy trade surpluses annually with the bloc, the latest customs data show.

G7 is a group consisting of the world’s seven most advanced economies, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Vietnam’s total trade with the group has risen from US$25.31 billion in 2006 to $95.42 billion in 2015, or an average annual growth rate of 17.1 percent, the General Department of Vietnam Customs said on Friday.

Vietnam logged a total trade surplus of $192.54 billion over the 2006-10 period with the seven-country bloc, or an average surplus of $19.25 billion per year, according to the Vietnam Customs.

In the first four months of this year, Vietnam's total export and import value with the G7 topped $30.73 billion, accounting for 29.4 percent of the country’s trade figure. Total trade surplus during this period was $13.21 billion.

Vietnamese Customs also underlined that Vietnam-Japan trade has been growing at a healthy rate over the last ten years, at an average annual rate of 13.9 percent.

Bilateral trade between the two countries was valued at $9.93 billion in 2006, with this figure growing to $28.49 billion by 2015.

Vietnam mostly sold its textile and garment products, footwear, furniture, seafood and raw materials to Japan, while importing back hi-tech machinery and equipment, automobiles and electronics.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe agreed to boost the two countries’ strategic partnership in economy and defense, after they met in Tokyo on Saturday.

The meeting marked the official visit to Japan of the Vietnamese leader, who also attended the G7 Outreach Meeting one day earlier.

In their talks, the two heads of government discussed practical measures to cement the two nations’ economic cooperation, investment and development.

Prime Minister Abe said Japan will continue providing Vietnam with official development assistance (ODA) for improving infrastructure and dealing with consequences brought about by climate change.

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