Service export plays an increasingly important role in raising export turnover of Vietnam. This also receives great supports and encouragements from the Government.
Potential exported services of Vietnam include computer software, legal consultancy, construction consultancy, business consultancy, shipping and forwarding.
Service export in combination with commodity export has created larger export revenues for Vietnam in recent years, especially from the beginning of this year to date. The figures from the General Statistics Office (GSO) showed that although the service value in the first six months of this year increased 7.7 per cent, the service export turnover soared over 20 per cent.
Service export value reached US$2.53 billion, compared with US$2.88 billion Vietnam spent on service import in the six months. A service deficit is unavoidable in a growing economy.
Ms Pham Chi Lan, a senior expert of the Prime Minister’s Research Committee, said the Vietnamese service sector has a huge export potentiality as the demand for import of services in other countries is soaring. One of the key factors helping the Vietnamese service sector to raise export advantages is a more competitive price than other countries. Services play an important part in the national economic structure and this shows the development level of an economy. A more developed nation has a higher service proportion in its economy. This invisible commodity is now accounting 30-40 per cent of Vietnam’s GDP. The size and importance of the service sector is exposed in the GDP proportion and business activities of enterprises.
Of the total 300 types of business licences, as many as 200 types are related the service sector. Each year, Vietnam earns US$4-5 billion from service export, accounting for 15 per cent of the country’s aggregate export takings and equalling export revenues of the garment and textile industry or annual overseas remittance.
Vietnam is boosting service export, locally and internationally, to realise this year’s target of US$6.2-6.7 billion, up over 10 per cent compared with last year’s earnings. In 2006, Vietnam also aims to bring in a total export turnover of US$38.44 billion, up 18.5 per cent against 2005. Like overseas remittance, the value of exported service is higher than export of commodities because the investment cost is humble, mainly from grey matter.
The robust development of local export in recent years is principally due to the trust of many foreign and domestic enterprises in Vietnamese services, not imported ones.
Being aware of the importance of added values from the export of services to the economy, the Government recently has introduced the national export development strategy, comprising of the service sector. Accordingly, the service export growth must reach 16.5 per cent annually and the service export revenues will hit US$12 billion by 2010, doubling the amount in 2006.
Another important objective of the Government is to balance the service import-export revenue.
B.T
Vietnamese
