SINGAPORE — Việt Nam has retained its position as Singapore’s 10th largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching SG$4.5 billion (around US$3.5 billion) in January, up 33.9 per cent year on year.

Notably, while Singapore’s exports to Việt Nam rose 13.6 per cent to SG$3 billion, imports from Việt Nam surged 100.5 per cent to SG$1.6 billion. The sharp increase in Vietnamese shipments is seen as a positive sign in narrowing the trade gap and points to strong prospects for further growth in exports to the Singaporean market this year.

Statistics from Enterprise Singapore show that the city state posted a trade surplus of nearly SG$1.4 billion with Việt Nam in January 2026, though this represented a 24.6 per cent decline compared with the same month in 2025. Of the total, its domestically produced exports to Việt Nam amounted to SG$710.5 million, down 6.4 per cent, while re-exports reached SG$2.2 billion, up 21.8 per cent.

Electrical machinery, equipment and parts (HS 85), and mineral fuels, oils and distillation products, bituminous substances and mineral waxes (HS 27), remained the largest export categories to Việt Nam, with combined shipments worth SG$2.2 billion, accounting for 76.2 per cent of Singapore’s total exports to the country last month.

However, the structures of these exports differ markedly. Electrical machinery, equipment and parts (HS 85) consisted predominantly of re-exports, making up 94.3 per cent of the category’s value. By contrast, mineral fuels and related products (HS 27) were overwhelmingly domestically produced, with a localisation rate of 99.5 per cent.

Other notable export groups to Việt Nam in January included nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery, mechanical equipment and parts (HS 84), valued at SG$166.9 million, up 23.9 per cent; plastics and plastic products (HS 39), at SG$72 million, down 11.6 per cent; and essential oils, perfumes, cosmetics and toilet preparations (HS 33), at SG$57.4 million, up 35.6 per cent.

On the import side, electrical machinery and equipment (HS 85) continued to record the highest value among goods sourced from Việt Nam, at more than SG$657.8 million, a rise of 76.5 per cent year on year, accounting for 41.4 per cent of total imports from the country. This was followed by machinery and mechanical appliances (HS 84), which soared 333.8 per cent to SG$641.6 million, and glass and glassware (HS 70), at SG$77.2 million, down 6.2 per cent.

Other categories included mineral fuels and related products (HS 27), at SG$43.7 million, up 385.1 per cent; salt, sulphur, earths and stone, plastering materials, lime and cement (HS 25), at SG$15.1 million, up 54.4 per cent; optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring and medical or surgical instruments and parts (HS 90), at SG$9.5 million, up 23.7 per cent.

Cao Xuân Thắng, Việt Nam's trade counsellor in Singapore, stated that as 2026 is the first year of implementing the five-year socio-economic development plan for 2026–30, the Việt Nam Trade Office will closely follow domestic action plans and directives to implement tasks from the outset of the year. — VNS