In the first quarter of this year, total trade value topped 176 billion USD, up 14 percent year on year, including exports of 88.58 billion USD. In the January-March period, the country imported 87.77 billion USD worth of products, a rise of nearly 16 percent over the same period last year. In the first three months of this year, the US was the largest export market of Vietnam, followed by China. In order to promote export activities in the time to come, the Ministry of Industry and Trade advised trade associations and businesses to apply preventive measures to avoid scams, while carefully choosing banks for payment in the current period, and optimising advantages from 15 free trade agreements between Vietnam and partners to diversify their markets. The ministry has directed trade offices in European countries to support businesses to switch import-export activities from Russia and Ukraine to suitable markets in the region./.