Vietnam's International Trade is Showing Signs of Recovery After the COVID-19 Pandemic

On a global scale, Vietnam is a low-middle income country with a high openness and effective export-oriented trade model. This article analyses the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on Vietnam’s trade in 2020. The analysis, which is based on reports and data collected from international organisations and governmental bodies (notably the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ministry of Industry and Trade, and General Department of Vietnam Customs), highlights how Vietnam’s import and export situation has been affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic, and gives some major recommendations for the post-pandemic period. In specific, the article focuses on analysing changes in trade balance, import-export turnover, major trade partners of Vietnam, and USD/VND exchange rate. Research results show that, although Vietnam’s trade has been affected by the pandemic in some ways, in general, the trade balance is not affected much, and there is a clear sign of recovery in Q3/2020 thanks to the effectiveness of government’s responses to the pandemic. On that basis, this study provides a number of solutions to the increased efficiency of Vietnam’s trade in the coming time.