Attracting investment in the electronics industry can help domestic enterprises participate in the global supply chain.
The country's electronics industry spans many areas such as component manufacturing, processing and product assembly.
The increase in the number of projects and investment capital in component manufacturing shows the great potential of this market.
A Chinese investor that recently invested more than US$100 million in electronic component production in Vietnam told Xay Dung (Construction) Newspaper that the reason it chose Vietnam is the country’s increasingly improving investment environment and quality labour force.
The most important factor for electronic component manufacturing enterprises to choose Vietnam is that it has been attracting a series of electronic enterprises such as Samsung, Apple, LG, and Intel.
Accordingly, Vietnam's electronic support industry can be a production hub in Asia.Among the items with export turnover of over US$10 billion, phones and electronic components account for a large proportion.
The mobile phone market in Vietnam is growing strongly, with Apple recording impressive success.Apple’s major partners like Foxconn, Luxshare and GoerTek are expanding their production in Vietnam.
Foxconn has invested US$1.5 billion and will continue to invest another US$300 million in a new factory in the northern province of Bac Giang. Luxshare currently has six factories with about 40,000 employees, while Pegatron is expanding its project with a total investment of about US$481 million in the northern city of Hai Phong.
Despite achievements in FDI attraction, the domestic electronics industry still depends heavily on FDI enterprises.Vietnam imports about US$50 billion worth of electronic components every year, while the ability of domestic enterprises to participate in the global value chain is limited.
The localisation rate of the electronics industry remains low, with many products being mainly imported.Do Thi Thuy Huong, Executive Board Member of the Vietnam Electronics Industries Association (VEIA), said that domestic enterprises mainly supply products with low technological value.
To enhance the capacity of domestic enterprises, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has implemented many international cooperation programmes to support domestic suppliers.
The ministry has also cooperated with large corporations such as Samsung and Toyota to enhance the capacity of the domestic supporting industry. These programmes include training consultants and technical support to improve production at Vietnamese enterprises.
