To achieve the year’s target, the nation will have to ship a monthly average of US$6 billion worth of goods to foreign markets in the final five months of the year, around US$1 billion higher than the normal monthly level, said Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Bien.

This seems to be an impossible mission since the export trend is on the decline. The first seven months saw exports dipping 13.4% year-on-year to a little more than US$32 billion, said Bien.

Both the local and foreign-invested sectors registered a slide in export. Bien said shipments by local enterprises dropped a staggering 16% to US$20 billion and those by foreign-invested companies plummeted 9% to over US$12 billion.

A majority of key export earners like crude oil, seafood and farm produce fell in value due to depressed world consumer demand despite some positive signs at home such as GDP, trade and manufacturing improvements, and the Government’s proactive steps to spur export, said Bien.

Export revenue from crude oil slid most; it was over 53%, or US$5.5 billion, lower than forecast. Farm produce and fish such as tra and basa followed, declining 8.8% in value, although it rose in volume.

The export sector is still dependent heavily on the Chinese market while shipments there are plunging in both volume and value, Bien noted.

Cassava emerged as the only item that registered positive growth when exported to China, he said, but the value remained small, about US$400 million.

To make matters worse, he said, Vietnam would be facing a fiercer competition with other exporting countries in the Asia Pacific region, especially China, that are regaining growth momentum earlier than expected.

Technical barriers in Vietnam’s main export markets like the U.S. with the Farm Bill and the European Union with requirements for chemical safety, origin of fish, and environmental protection are going up, thus potentially preventing imports from Vietnam.

Truong Dinh Hoe, general secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (Vasep), said the sector could achieve US$4-4.2 billion in export revenue at best this year, falling short of the US$6 billion target.

Vietnam shrimp is competing strongly with the Thai product on the American market while the EU can import a combined US$1.5 billion worth of shrimp this year but some key shrimp importers like Italy and the Netherlands are placing fewer orders, Hoe said. He said Japan, another key market for Vietnamese seafood, was imposing stricter measures on seafood safety and hygiene, with all seafood imports inspected.

Tran Quoc Manh, vice chairman of the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of HCMC, said the woodwork industry experienced poorer-than-expected export performance in the first five months of the year, but new yet small orders were arriving over the past one month.

The former trade minister, Truong Dinh Tuyen, highlighted the challenges the export sector is facing to attain the target but said the situation would improve in the rest of the year.

The ASEAN-Japan comprehensive partnership agreement will take effect in October this year with over 90% of items eligible for tax exemptions, paving the way for Vietnamese companies, particularly in the garment and seafood sectors, to boost shipments to the Japanese market, Tuyen said.

Deputy Minister Bien said his ministry had written to the Government seeking a 20% reduction in peak-hour power prices to help companies out of the doldrums.