KienGiang (VNA) - Export revenues in the southern province of Kien Gianghit 153 million USD in the first quarter of this year, a year-on-year surge of32 percent despite the complexities created by the COVID-19 pandemic, accordingto the province’s Department of Industry and Trade.

InMarch alone, it earned in excess of 60.5 million USD, up 16.6 percent againstFebruary.

Theexport of certain products grew handily in the January-March period, notablyrice (94.6 percent), seafood (17.4 percent), and footwear (5.1 percent).

However,earnings for frozen products, including shrimp, fish, and squid, all declined.

DepartmentDirector Ngo Kim Tuoc said products from Kien Giang were shipped to 30 countriesand territories in the first quarter, with the Philippines, Japan, and Republicof Korea leading the way and buying the three staples of rice, seafood, andfootwear.

Thequarterly increase was attributed to contracts signed with partners prior to COVID-19outbreak. Countries and territories had yet to restrict imports in the initialstages of the epidemic, he explained, when little impact was seen on globaltrade.

Somecountries then bolstered rice purchases for their reserves as the disease spread,resulting in exports of the grain doubling the amount exported in the sameperiod last year.

Theprovince has set itself a target of earning 194 million USD from exports in thesecond quarter, for a first half figure of more than 347 million USD, or 44.5percent of the annual plan.

Torealise its targets, Kien Giang will continue to keep a close watch on the situationand global markets as well as ensure stable production of rice and seafood./.