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Currently, Japanese people spend US$40 billion a year on clothing, but its domestic production can meet only 5 percent while the remaining 95 percent is offset by imports. Hence, Japan is a fertile market for apparel and garment exporters, including Vietnam. In recent years, Japan has repeatedly surpassed the European Union (EU) to be the second largest importer of Vietnam's garments and textiles after the United States. Although apparel and textile shipments to Japan do not hold a big market share, this is a traditional loyal market for Vietnam’s garments and textiles.

Vietnam started to import coal from China in 2014. The General Department of Vietnam Customs said Vietnam imported more than 356,000 tonnes of coal from China with a total turnover of over US$92.5 million in the first nine months of 2014. This is unusual, as Vietnam has exported a large volume of coal to China every year.

According to Vietnam Customs’ statistics, in 2013, ASEAN was the third largest export market of Vietnam, behind only the U.S. and EU, with exports reaching US$18.47 billion. In the first quarter of 2014, ASEAN continues to maintain that position. Among investors, Singapore provided one of the largest capital investments (second largest in 2012 and 2013, third in 2011).

Vietnam’s cashew nut export reached 21,225 tonnes valued at US$133.51 million in March, up 63 percent in volume and 64.98 percent in value from the previous month. The country shipped 52,515 tonnes of cashew nuts worth US$324.68 million in the first quarter of 2014, up 21.7 percent in volume and 23.85 percent in value over the same period of 2013.

All plant, animal and fish-based products imported into Mexico must comply with new quarantine regulations from July 29, 2014. Accordingly, all packaged goods for import must be in containers and secured on export pallets (Article 15, Section 4).

Given complex developments in the East Sea, Vietnam’s key agricultural exports like rice, rubber and cassava continued to face a plenty of challenges. However, contrary to popular worries, the country’s export performances in the first six months showed signs of improvement and pinned hopes on bright economic picture in 2014.

Coffee farmers in Vietnam, the world’s top grower of robusta beans, are forecast to gather a record crop in the 12 months from October 2015 as they improve cultivation methods and replace old trees with new varieties. Output that year may increase to an all-time high of 1.87 million metric tons, the median of estimates from nine traders and analysts compiled by Bloomberg shows. That’s 8.7 percent more than the record in 2013-2014. Average yields may rise to 2.83 tons per hectare from 2.65 tons as the area rises to 660,000 hectares from 650,000 hectares, the survey shows.

Viet Nam's seafood exports are expected to keep growing in 2014 as the country is seeing improvement signs from its main markets such as Japan, the EU and the US, as well as potentials from new markets like China and Hong Kong. According to Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), in 2013, Vietnamese seafood products were available in 156 countries and territories, bringing back a total value of $6.8 billion, in which, the top ten importers represented 85 per cent.

While Vietnam has attained a strong track record of economic growth over the past 20 years, the drivers that fueled this growth are rapidly depleting, making it critical to develop new drivers of growth going forward. More competitive transport and trade logistics can become a new driver of sustained growth through their positive impact on productivity and their direct influence on business competitiveness.

In the view of Foreign Direct Invested (FDI) traders, the total value of exportation and importation in the second half of June reached over USD 7.51 billion, up by 8.8% in comparison to first half of June 2014. In the first 6 months of 2014, FDI traders was in trade surplus of USD 4.72 (exports was US dollars 43.72, rose by 17.1% and imports was nearly US dollars 39 billion, rose by 10.7%).