HANOI: Vietnam’s exports are expected to grow by 10.1 per cent from 2021 to 2030, largely unchanged from the growth anticipated for 2015 to 2020, according to HSBC’s Trade Forecast Report released on December 9.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows have been very strong in recent years, the report stated, helping Vietnam diversify its export base and gradually move into higher value sectors, most notably information and communications technology (ICT) equipment, which now accounts for around 25 per cent of its exports, up from less than 10 per cent five years ago.
ICT equipment is now Vietnam’s largest export sector, HSBC wrote. “The success the economy has had in diversifying its export base in recent years is best illustrated by the share of ICT equipment in total exports, which has risen to around a quarter from less than 10 per cent as recently as five years ago,” according to the report.
ICT equipment is forecast to contribute 19 per cent of the total increase in exports from 2021 to 2030, up from 14 per cent in 2015-2020 period, the bank forecast.
Samsung, which first opened a mobile phone plant in Vietnam in 2009, has led this increase. Their first plant has doubled its output each year since 2009 while in 2013 another factory was built and in late 2014 plans were announced for two more factories – a $600 million plant manufacturing household appliances and a $3 billion smartphone plant. Moreover, LG, Microsoft, and Intel also have plans to expand their operations in Vietnam.
