The industry mostly makes phones, tablets, motherboards, screens, TVs, cameras, office equipment and optical products. Phone and phone components have had the largest export turnover since 2013.

According to the General Statistics Office (GSO), by late November, phone and phone component export revenue reached US$55.4 billion, up 6.6 percent year-on-year, accounting for 16.2 percent of Vietnam’s total export turnover in January-November 2022. In 2010, the figure was $2.3 billion, making up 3.2 percent of Vietnam’s total export turnover.

Do Thi Thuy Huong from the Vietnam Electronic Business Association said the local electronics industry is among those attracting workers and foreign currencies the most, while FIEs make major contributions to supply chains. 

Mobile phones account for the largest proportion of Vietnam’s electronics industry, followed by computers and peripheral devices. 

The number of workers in this industry rose from 1 million in 2019 to 1.3 million in 2021, with female workers accounting for 60 percent. The annual average growth rate of this sector in the past five years was 13 percent.

Samsung is the largest foreign investor in this field, followed by LG, both from South Korea. Half of the world’s top 20 IT electronics companies have set up factories in Vietnam.

Amid the upheavals of the market, many investors are considering moving to third markets. The global supply chain is being reshaped in order to ease reliance on one country. Vietnam has the opportunity to join deeply into the global supply chain and lure more foreign investment. 

Huong suggested that the government focus investment in small and medium sized enterprises, improve the domestic business environment, and promote digital transformation.

Van Anh