Vietnam's exports are too reliant on non-renewable resources, showing major weakness in the local industrial sector, local newspaper Vietnam News reported Tuesday.

Crude oil, minerals, wood and seafood accounted for some 45 percent of the country's exports in 2006, while renewable resources produced by such sectors as industrial manufacturing, processing and handicrafts represented 39 percent, well below the target of 46 percent.

This shows weaknesses in the industrial sector. Among the nine industries that surpassed one billion U.S. dollars in export revenues, only the electronics and computer components industry belongs to the high-tech sector.

The remaining eight are either reliant on natural resources or subject to fluctuation of the world prices.

The government will introduce regulations to help transform the export structure, Vietnamese Trade Minister Truong Dinh Tuyen said, adding that the country is targeting an increase of 8 billion dollars in export revenues in 2007, which would come largely from the fisheries and manufacturing sectors.

Crude oil, coal and agricultural exports might not record significant growth, partly due to the country's emphasis on preserving natural resources, Tuyen said.

Vietnam posted export revenues of over 39.6 billion dollars in 2006, an increase of 22.1 percent over 2005. Of the 7.2 billion dollars increase in export revenues last year, almost 3 billion dollars came from price increases, and the rest from bigger export volume and higher products' quality, he said.

Source: Xinhua