HANOI, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam imported completely-built automobiles and components for assembly totaling nearly 1.2 billion U.S. dollars in the first four months of this year, falling 32.2 percent on-year.

Specifically, the country imported over 6,700 completely-built automobiles worth 198 million U.S. dollars, posting respective decreases of 79.8 percent and 69.8 percent, according to its Ministry of Industry and Trade on Wednesday.

In April alone, Vietnam spent 80 million U.S. dollars importing 2,500 automobiles.

Early this year, few automobiles, especially cars, were imported to Vietnam because traders were not well-prepared to comply with a new governmental decree which requires traders to provide more relevant certificates and to undergo more tests than before, according to local experts.

Under the decree, traders are only permitted to import automobiles if they can provide valid vehicle registration certificates issued by authorities from the countries of origin, and they are supposed to have one vehicle from each batch shipped to Vietnam undergone emissions and safety tests.

Last year, Vietnam spent over 5.3 billion U.S. dollars importing 94,000 completely-built automobiles and components for assembly. Meanwhile, its total automobile sales were 272,750 units, according to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association.

Total vehicle sales in Vietnam will increase to over 284,400 units this year, global research company BMI Research forecast recently, explaining that passenger car demand will be driven by reduction in tax rates on vehicles with engine sizes of 2.0 liters or less, and the elimination of tariffs on completely-built units from ASEAN member countries in January. Enditem