Services sector lifts exports

The services industry has achieved outstanding results in terms of exports considering it is still in its infancy in Viet Nam, the General Department of Taxation says.

Viet Nam’s services exports have been constantly rising, going up from US$4.26 billion in 2005 to $7.46 billion last year.

Tourism remains the main export item. It was worth $2.3 million in 2005 and rose to $4.5 million last year, an increase of 14.11 per cent a year on average, higher than the rate for overall services export.

Analysts attribute this to the large number of tourists arriving in Viet Nam. In 2009, for example, there were around 5.049 million foreign arrivals.

Export of transport services, represented mainly by shipping, which were worth $1.16 million in 2005 doubled to $2.30 million last year.

Telecom services are the third major export, with revenues going up from $1.16 million in 2005 to almost $4.8 million in 2010. Vietnamese service providers like Viettel are active in foreign markets like Cambodia.

However, despite the successes achieved by these sectors, the services industry still suffered from many limitations and as a result could reach only 11 per cent of the value of goods exports, the analysts said.

Most service providers lacked size, did not focus on exports, and were relatively inexperienced, they said. — VNS

Tags: Vietnam Services sector