Vietnam was Hong Kong's second-largest supplier of prawns and plants used for perfume, and held a strong position in sales of other specialized animal products, such as feathers. Vietnamese imports from Hong Kong, often paid for through complicated barter arrangements, comprised chemicals, machinery and equipment, and industrial textiles. Hong Kong also provided a conduit for an undetermined amount of covert trade by ASEAN countries such as Thailand.

Singapore

Despite Singapore's ASEAN membership and its official sanction of the organization's participation in a boycott on trade with Vietnam, unofficial trade between the two countries grew dramatically during the 1980s. By 1985 trade had reached a total two-way figure of almost US$200 million (Singapore stopped publishing figures for its trade with Vietnam in 1986). In 1985 Singapore exported almost as much to Vietnam as Japan did, and imported twice as much as Hong Kong did. Singapore also provided Hanoi with important services, including cable and telex links. By 1985, the year in which for the first time ASEAN trade with Vietnam equalled that of Japan, the boycott seemed to have lost force.

Data as of December 1987