Indonesia will raise the issue of equality in its appeal against the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling on the nickel export ban, which went in favor of the European Union, Deputy Minister of Trade Jerry Sambuaga said.

With Vietnamese goods making up only 2.7% and 3.3% in Japan and the Republic of Korea, respectively, there remains a wealth of opportunities open for Vietnamese exports to enter these promising markets, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

Do Quoc Hung, deputy director of the Asia-Africa Market Department under the MoIT, revealed that both Japan and the RoK have great import demand in areas where Vietnam has strengths.

Over many past years, China has always been Vietnam's largest trading partner and second - largest export market, following the US. Vietnam and China share borders both on land and at sea, as well as many similarities in cultural traditions, consumption habits and long-standing economic-commercial relations.

Vietnam’s rice exports rose strongly by nearly 45% in value in the first months of the year, while many enterprises did not have sufficient rice to export, given the increasing global demand for food.

The commerce ministry's arm DGTR has recommended imposition of anti-dumping duty on imports of a certain type of optical fibres from China, Korea and Indonesia to protect the domestic industry from cheap inbound shipments. The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has recommended the duty after conducting an investigation on the dumped imports of 'Dispersion Unshifted Single-mode Optical Fiber' from these countries.

The product is mainly applied to high-data rate, long distance and access network transportation.

Vietnam’s durian exports are expected to see a boom in the time ahead when the durian harvest season reaches its peak, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The trade turnover between Vietnam and the United States have significantly decreased during the first four months of the year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade,

Specifically, the country’s exports to the demanding market in the reviewed period fell 21% to US$28.45 billion on-year, accounting for 26% of total export turnover while the import turnover of goods from the US also dropped 11.9% to US$4.08 billion.

With the export of several agricultural products such as rubber, coffee, and pepper gradually recovering, there remains a positive outlook ahead for export growth to major markets in the second quarter of the year, according to details given by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Statistics from the China Customs indicated that Chinese rubber imports from the country in the first quarter of the year reached 416,520 tonnes worth US$562.66 million, representing a rise of 15.2% in volume.