Vietnam reaped service export earnings of more than 2.5 billion U.S. dollars in the first half of this year, a year-on-year rise of over 20 percent, according to a local trade agency on Friday.

In the period, the country sent nearly 35,200 local employees abroad, mainly to Malaysia, China's Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, up from some 31,000 in the same period last year, said the Trade Information Center under the Trade Ministry.

To boost service export, Vietnam is intensifying investment in such local services as aviation, posts and telecommunications, shipping, banking, finance and tourism, and further tapping its key labor export markets.

Vietnam has predicted to post service export revenues of 12 billion dollars in 2010, up from nearly 5.7 billion dollars in 2005. It is expected to reap overseas tourism revenue of 3.2 billion dollars; labor, 3 billion dollars, sea transport, 1.1 billion; and air transport, 950 million dollars in the year, said the center.

Source: Xinhua