Vietnam Exports Rise Thanks to Foreign Firms

September 26, 2013 Posted by Vietnam Briefing Reading Time: 2 minutes

Sept. 26 – Over the first eight months of this year, Vietnam’s exports rose by 15.1 percent year on year to US$85.2 billion, with foreign-invested companies accounting for over 60 percent of the monetary figure. On the other hand, domestic firms have experienced either stagnant or declining export levels.

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Specifically:

Mobile phone and accessory exports totaled US$13.39 billion – a gigantic 80.8 percent year on year jump – with foreign companies accounting for US$13.28 billion of the total amount;
Computer and electronic exports rose by 42.1 percent to US$6.77 billion year on year, with foreign firms accounting for close to US$6.5 billion;
Textile exports totaled US$11.45 billion over these past eight months with foreign invested firms accounting for US$6.83 billion; and
Footwear exports grew to US$5.47 billion, with US$4.18 billion coming from foreign invested firms.

A spokesperson from the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association noted that thanks to the country offering foreign investors with some of the lowest costs in the world, “it is understandable that more and more foreign companies are interested [in going into Vietnam].”

Furthermore, many foreign invested companies that produce products for world-renowned brands such as Adidas and Coach have begun to enlarge not just their factory capacities but also their payroll in order to make good use of the upcoming opportunities they hope will arise from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (the free trade agreement that aims to further liberalize the economies of the Asia-Pacific region).

Pham Xuan Hong, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association, estimated that foreign companies account for over 60 percent of the sector’s total exports and are “dominant in textiles, dye, and weaving in terms of capacity and output.”

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