The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade has predicted that Vietnam may become one of the 10-15 economies with the largest trade revenue in the world this year, citing the country’s trade performance in the year to July.

The expectation was released at a teleconference discussing the country’s export activities held on Friday between Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and the representatives of 61 Vietnam’s overseas trade offices and their branches, which are in charge of 176 foreign markets.

Last year, Vietnam earned a trade turnover of US$670 billion, attaining a place among the top 20 countries with largest trade turnover in the world, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien told the online conference, which was jointly conducted by the ministry and the Government Office.

In the first seven months of this year, the country’s export-import turnover amounted to $433 billion, up 15.3 percent from a year earlier, and is expected to reach around $800 billion this year, Minister Dien said.

Based on such performance, Vietnam may earn a place among the 10-15 economies with the world's largest trade revenue in the world in 2022, according to the ministry.

PM Chinh highly appreciated the results achieved between January and July of the year, which came from contributions from the industry and trade sector, including the system of Vietnam's trade offices abroad.

He, however, noted that the world trade situation remains complicated, with many large markets narrowed and a lot of countries facing various difficulties including inflation and consumption reduction.

Such situation will affect Vietnam as its economy has a large openness, the PM said.

Therefore, it is required that the industry and trade system in general and enterprises in particular must be more proactive in market research and improve the effectiveness of domestic supporting enterprises to make the best use of opportunities from free trade agreements that Vietnam is a party, he advised.

The PM also urged market diversification to offset difficulties in traditional markets such as the U.S., China, the EU, Japan, South Korea and ASEAN, tapping new markets such as Eastern Europe, the Middle East, South America, South Asia and Africa; and enhancing supply chains.

“I suggest that trade representative offices and other relevant agencies learn about and analyze the trade situation and policies of the importers and thereby recommend specific measures to expand Vietnam’s export markets,” the government’s chief said.

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