Scale must go hand in hand with quality

According to statistics, in the first 8 months of 2025, the total import and export turnover of goods reached 597.93 billion USD, an increase of 16.3% over the same period last year, of which exports increased by 14.8%; imports increased by 17.9%; the trade balance of goods had a trade surplus of 13.99 billion USD.

Specifically, the export turnover of goods reached 305.96 billion USD, up 14.8% over the same period last year. Of which, the domestic economic sector reached 76.69 billion USD, up 3.2%, accounting for 25.1% of the total export turnover. The foreign-invested sector (including crude oil) reached 229.27 billion USD, up 19.3%, accounting for 74.9%. There were 29 items with export turnover of over 1 billion USD, accounting for 92.1% of the total export turnover.

Regarding the structure of export goods, in the past 8 months, the processed industrial goods group reached 271.06 billion USD, accounting for 88.6%; the agricultural and forestry products group reached 25.92 billion USD, accounting for 8.5%. The aquatic products group reached 7.15 billion USD, accounting for 2.3%; the fuel and mineral products group reached 1.83 billion USD, accounting for 0.6%. Regarding the market, the US is Vietnam's largest export market with a turnover of 99.1 billion USD. China is the largest import market with a turnover of 117.9 billion USD.

These are very positive results, contributing to strengthening confidence in the ability to recover, creating more momentum for growth. However, in order to achieve the target of increasing export turnover by 12%, achieving a trade surplus of 30 billion USD, creating a solid foundation for the 2026 - 2030 period to achieve a double-digit growth rate as set out in the Prime Minister 's Official Dispatch No. 133/CD-TTg dated August 12, 2025, there are still many difficulties and challenges to overcome.

Accordingly, the biggest difficulties and challenges are geopolitical fluctuations, reshaping of global value chains, strict trade policies from major markets... leading to increasing uncertainty. In addition, many major markets are applying stricter non-tariff barriers, especially environmental, social, and governance requirements...

To adapt and overcome these difficulties and challenges, many opinions say that businesses must innovate to maintain growth and compete in both domestic and international markets. In addition, businesses need to invest resources in green transformation, digital transformation, increase the localization rate, reduce dependence on imported materials to meet the rules of origin and transparency of origin.

Having a strategy to effectively approach and exploit new markets; making the most of new-generation Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) such as CPTPP and EVFTA... Because according to an expert, our country has signed 17 FTAs; these FTAs ​​not only promote exports, reduce production costs but also contribute to perfecting policies, expanding opportunities for investors, thereby our country's export turnover has had a strong development.

From another perspective, an expert believes that success in export scale must go hand in hand with quality. Market expansion is not just about quantity, but importantly, it is about increasing the value content in exports. Therefore, it is necessary to change the mindset, not only focusing on the growth rate of export turnover but also on improving the quality of export activities. This is demonstrated through increasing added value, increasing the localization rate and developing domestic supporting industries. These factors have practical significance, creating direct and sustainable benefits for the economy.

In the current context, consolidating old export markets and exploiting new markets to expand export scale is vital for businesses. To do this, in addition to issuing specific policies to help businesses access markets, improve infrastructure, strengthen domestic and international links to form sustainable supply chains, businesses need to closely link and build competitive brands. Associations, industries, and local authorities need to promote their leading, connecting, and supporting roles. Only then can businesses expand their export scale, improve their competitiveness, and participate more deeply in the global value chain.

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/quy-mo-phai-song-hanh-voi-chat-luong-10387205.html