Vietnamese businesses exported nearly 850 million medical masks in the first eight months of this year, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

More than 70 enterprises exported over 135 million medical masks in August alone, local daily newspaper Vietnam News cited the department's data as reporting on Thursday.

The largest importers included Japan, South Korea, Germany and the United States. Masks were also exported to Australia, China, Laos, Poland and Singapore, said the report.

Masks have been a highlight of Vietnamese exports during the COVID-19 pandemic. Textile and garment enterprises have also quickly adapted machinery and raw materials to make medical masks, anti-bacterial fabric masks and protective goods to fill the gaps when processing orders were delayed, according to Vietnam News.

In late April, Vietnamese government officially allowed the export of medical masks without a cap on the export volume, as long as domestic demand is met, different from earlier when the country only allowed the export for humanitarian aid or international assistance purposes.

Between January and August, Vietnam's export revenues totaled over 174.1 billion U.S. dollars, up 1.6 percent year on year, according to the country's General Statistics Office.