For instance, Vietnam has imported $4.47 billion worth of cell phones in 2012, a 70 per cent increase year-on-year, the agency said.

The total turnovers of the commodities under the import restriction in 2012 were some $14.85 billion, up by 12.5 per cent against the same period last year.

Remarkably, certain products which can be locally manufactured have still been imported at large quantities, such as confectionary and grains, whose import turnovers rose by as much as 60.6 per cent year on year.

Nearly 28,000 sedans have been imported last year, worth an enormous $617.4 million.

Positive export signs

The country, meanwhile, has also posted impressive achievements in exports, with 25 global markets importing more than $1 billion worth of products from Vietnam.

Vietnamese exports to the European Union (EU) hit $20.3 billion in 2012, increasing 22.5 per cent against 2011 and accounting for 17.7 per cent of the country’s total exports, the Vietnamese Government News Portal said, citing figures from the General Department of Statistics.

Major export items included footwear, accounting for 36 per cent of the total export turnovers, computers (19 percent), and garments (16 per cent).

The US was the second largest importer of Vietnamese goods, consuming $19.6 billion in value, representing a year on year rise of 15.6 per cent and 17.1 per cent of Vietnam’s total exports, the VGP said.

Other ASEAN countries ranked third, importing $17.3 billion worth of Vietnamese goods, up 27.2 per cent over 2011.

Japan and China came fourth and fifth, consuming $13.1 billion and US$12.2 billion respectively.

China was the largest trade partner of Vietnam, exporting $28.9 billion worth of goods to its neighbor, up 17.6 per cent against 2011.

It was followed by ASEAN ($21 billion), the Republic of Korea ($15.6 billion), Japan ($11.7 billion), the EU ($8.8 billion), and the US ($4.7 billion).