Vietnam Rises to be the 10th Top Trading Partner of Singapore

Vietnam became the 10th largest trading partner of Singapore in January, with two-way trade turnover reaching over SGD2.9 billion (US$2.16 billion). Photo: VNA

According to the Vietnam Trade Office in Singapore, in January, import-export turnover between Singapore and most major partners recovered and grew.

Some partners had a strong increase in turnover such as Switzerland, up 135.87%, Hong Kong (China), up 55.27%, and Korea, up 34.44%.

In January, China, Malaysia, the US and Taiwan (China) were Singapore’s four largest trading partners with a total trade turnover of SGD15.19 billion (US$11.3 billion), SGD11.18 billion (US$8.3 billion), SGD9.97 billion (US$7.42 billion) and SGD7.75 billion (US$5.76 billion) respectively.

Regarding exports, in the first month of the year, Singapore’s main export markets were China, Hong Kong-China, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Some markets have quite high increases such as Cambodia, up 328.96%, Switzerland, up 155.24%, Hong Kong (China), up 62%.

According to the Vietnam Trade Office in Singapore, in the opposite direction, Singapore’s main import markets are still China, Malaysia, Taiwan (China), the US, Korea, Japan, and Indonesia.

In January, Vietnam rose to the position of Singapore’s 10th largest trading partner, with a two-way trade turnover of more than SGD2.9 billion (US$2.16 billion), an increase of 18.08%.

In particular, Vietnam is Singapore’s 8th export market with a turnover of US$2.23 billion, an increase of 14.79%. Vietnam is the 17th largest import partner of Singapore out of 20 with a turnover of SGD678.8 million (US$505.1 million) (up 30.34%).

Cao Xuan Thang, commercial counselor, head of the Vietnam Trade Office in Singapore, said that in the structure of goods from Singapore exported to Vietnam, goods originating from Singapore reached SGD513.35 million (US$382 million), down 9.85%.

Goods from third countries exported to Vietnam through Singapore reached SGD1.71 billion (US$1.27 billion) (accounting for 77%), an increase of 25.04%.

Photo: VGP

According to the Trade Office, most of Vietnam’s exports to Singapore enjoyed growth in January. Among them, iron and steel increased more than 30 times while salt, sulfur, soil and stone, lime and cement rose by 1.22 times, and animal-vegetable oils and fats by 85.32%. The group with the largest export turnover was machinery, equipment, mobile phones, components and spare parts, which expanded by 50.62% to SGD255.2 million (US$189.8 million).

Among Vietnam’s imports from Singapore, the group with the largest import turnover was machinery, equipment, mobile phones, components and spare parts, which reported a year-on-year surge of 19.82%. The remaining groups saw a growth of over 20%.

Regarding the prospects between Vietnam and Singapore, according to the Trade Office, Singapore’s trade situation with the world in the first month of 2024 shows positive signs.

All indicators of total two-way turnover and import-export turnover increased well at over two digits (14.06%, 16.74% and 11.06% respectively).

However, the long-term outlook for the whole of 2024 remains difficult.

Weak demand and tightened monetary policies of major economies, along with global supply chain disruptions, show no signs of improvement. It even increased due to the tense situation in the Red Sea.

In that context, import-export turnover between Vietnam and Singapore still maintains positive growth momentum, which is a positive sign.

In the first month of the year, three indicators of import and export turnover between the two countries all increased sharply, and reached the highest level since 2020.

They make Vietnam the 10th largest trading partner (up one place), the 17th import partner (up four places) and 8th export partner (up two places) of Singapore.

To promote exports to Singapore, the office will continue to update the policies and import-export situation of the island nation, facilitate trade connections between companies of both countries as well as assist Singaporean firms in exploring sources of goods and investing in Vietnam.

Rosie Nguyen

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