Ho Chi Minh City sees 21.7% rise in exports

Vietnam’s southern hub generated over US$15 billion in exports during the first seven months of this year, a surge of 21.7% against the same period last year, according to municipal Statistics Office figures.

The rise was fuelled by earnings gathered from garments and textiles, which raked in US$1.22 billion, an increase of 18.3%; footwear which fetched US$323 million, an increase of 17.7%; seafood which brought in US$226 million, an increase of 12.4% and milk which collected US$68.7 million, an increase of 37.4%.

Rice exports, making up 11% of the city\'s total export value, saw a 5.2% decline in turnover, reaching only US$800 million as export prices dropped by 6.7% compared to last year.

During the period, exports of the State-owned sector rose by 22.5%, while the foreign-invested sector was up 19.4%.

The city\'s total export value is expected to reach about US$23.5 billion by the year-end, up 12.1 % against the previous year. Besides its traditional markets, the city plans to continue exploring new export outlets during the remaining months of this year.