| Electronics Exports to Shine Source: VEEI (Vietnam Electric – Electronic Industry) |
| Electronics items and computer components have been prioritized for
development from 2006-2010 under the Vietnam industrial product development
strategy. A target has been set and by 2010, US$4.7 billion worth of electronic
items and computer are to be exported. To get that level, export growth will
have to average 26.7 percent per year between now and then. This year (2007)
it is being forecast that US$2.3 billion worth of these products will be exported,
21.1 percent more than last year. Next year the hope is that it will climb to
US$2.9 billion, which would be 26.1 percent more than the optimistic projection
for 2007. Projections for 2009 and 2010 are US$3.7 and US$4.7 billion with 27.6
percent and 25 percent growth. Policy-makers want to say that they have a
handle on the throttle and can guide the country to export more computer
components and electronic items. Because there has been a sharp growth in the
export earnings from these products in recent years, this seems to be something
that is doable. About US$672 million worth of computer components and
electronic items was exported in 2003 (36.6 percent more than 2002), US$1.075
billion in 2004 (a 60 percent increase), US$1.442 billion in 2005 (34.1 percent
more) and US$1.9 billion in 2006 (a 31.8 percent increase).
The Planning and Investment Department (Ministry of Trade) says that there will likely to be a sharp growth in electronic item and computer component export earning in the next few years because foreign companies are coming in to assemble huge quantities of these products using Vietnamese labor. In the future, Canon will be turning out huge quantities of printers and Intel will be making massive amounts of computer components and chipsets. To come will be satellite companies that will assemble and even produce support products here in Vietnam. Cannon’s US$50 million laser printer facility in the Que Vo-bac Ninh Industrial Zone, completed in 2006, is the largest in Vietnam. The facility was built to make 700,000 printers – every one of them to be exported – and Canon expects these printers to meet 35 percent of the demand for laser printers around the world. Intel is going to build the largest computer component and chipset production facility in Vietnam in the Ho Chi Minh City Hi-tech Park. The company is planning to invest US$605 million to get production-ready, and all of Intel’s products are also to be exported. With this kind of production going on, it is expected that smaller investors will see the opportunity to provide materials and equipment for the big companies and they’ll be coming in soon. When looking at the competition out there for electronic items and components, Vietnam’s rivals are Malaysia, Thailand and China. Vietnam presently has the one big advantage – cheap labor. It is thought that the high level of economic growth being experienced by China is causing foreign electronic giants to worry about rising wages and trade restrictions and they may very well shift production from China to Vietnam. The demand for electronic items and computer components around the world is enormous and there are now signs that its peaking. In 2005, more than US400 billion worth of electronic items were sold worldwide and it has been growing at a rate of about 8 percent per year. About 200 million computers were sold worldwide in 2005 and smart guesses are that number will jump to 300 million by 2010. The export revenue earned from the sale of electronic items and computer components in Vietnam is expected to grow in the next five years. |