Exports of computers, electronic products and components increased by 31.6%
According to a report by Ministry of Industry and Trade, export turnover of goods in May 2024 is estimated at 32.81 billion USD, although it only increased by 5.7% compared to the previous month, it increased by 15.8% compared to the same period last year. In the first 5 months of 2024, export turnover of goods is estimated at 156.77 billion USD, up 15.2% over the same period last year.
In the first 5 months of 2024, there were 26 items with export turnover of over 1 billion USD, accounting for 90.0% of total export turnover (there were 7 items with export turnover of over 5 billion USD, accounting for 65.3%).
In export groups, export turnover of processing and manufacturing industry group is estimated at 132.42 billion USD, accounting for 84.5% of total export turnover and increasing by 14.9% over the same period in 2023. Many product groups achieved high export turnover growth rates, including key export items such as: Cameras, camcorders and components increased by 61.2%; computers, electronic products and components increased by 33.4%; plastic products increased by 29.6%; phones of all kinds and components increased by 11.6%...
In the latest report of General Department of Customs, in the first 5 months of 2024, in the Top 4 groups of goods with export turnover of over 10 billion USD, export of computers, electronic products and components reached 27.01 billion USD, an increase of 31.6% over the same period last year; group of phones of all kinds and components reached 22.4 billion USD, an increase of over 11% over the same period.
Ms. Do Thi Thuy Huong - Member of Executive Committee, Vietnam Electronic Enterprises Association - assessed that electronics industry has been at the top of export turnover for 10 consecutive years, accounting for over 30% of total import-export turnover of the whole country. Statistics show that in the first quarter of 2024, electronics exports reached 30.5 billion USD, with a trade surplus of 4.2 billion USD. This is a "telling number" when the industry has contributed greatly to the country's foreign currency surplus.
In particular, Vietnam ranks 2nd in the world in exporting wireless phones and 5th in the world in exporting computers. Impressive and proud numbers that many countries admire. “Many times I went to India to work with them, I saw that they admired Vietnam very much and many of Vietnam's electronics development policies were also learned by India," said Ms. Thuy Huong.
Vietnam is still at the bottom of the "smile curve"
However, representative of Vietnam Electronics Business Association also frankly stated that Vietnam is still at the bottom of the "smile curve" in the global value chain. In Vietnamese electronics industry supply chain, Vietnamese enterprises have not been able to participate in segments that bring high added value such as R&D, design, distribution... Vietnamese enterprises mainly participate in assembly segment, so the added value is still low.
“Profit of electronics industry (like the garment and footwear industry) participating in the final assembly process in Vietnam is about 5 - 10%. This means that despite large export volume, economic benefits from Vietnam's participation in the global electronics supply chain are relatively small,” said Ms. Thuy Huong.
Meanwhile, following big projects of FDI in processing and assembly of the big players in the chain, in the following years, number of projects and investment capital in the category of manufacturing and processing components/component assemblies increased significantly. Specifically, in the years of 2013 - 2014, investment capital in the processing and assembly category was recorded, then in a period of 2015 - 2017, Vietnam attracted many large-scale projects with registered capital in the processing and assembly category. The same trend also occurred in the period 2019 to present when number of large-scale projects increased, impressive with large projects such as Foxconn investing 435 million USD to produce and assemble tablets; then Foxconn's subsidiary also invested a project of 621 million USD to produce components and electronics.
Vietnam's electronics industry still faces many difficulties, however, according to Ms. Do Thi Thuy Huong, Vietnam benefits from fierce competition between US and Chinese technology. Therefore, shift of investors to Vietnam is a trend, but whether or not they can seize advantage depends on business.
Breakthrough opportunities will come to businesses that know how to seize opportunity and use their strengths to improve their competitiveness in the global market. "Hopefully in the near future, breakthrough electronics industry will have higher value than supply chain such as design, marketing, gradually moving up the smile curve," Ms. Thuy Huong shared.
Meanwhile, according to Mr. Sam Hui - Vice President of Global Sources - said that up to now, China imports the most electronic components from Malaysia, Vietnam, and India. Vietnam is a "hot" market and is the top target for overseas investment expansion of Chinese businesses.
Mr. Sam Hui assessed that Vietnam's electronics manufacturing industry compared to China has many outstanding features such as relying on assembly, many large factories investing and setting up factories in Vietnam. Some large enterprises invest in assembly factories in Vietnam.
"Opportunity for Vietnam is growing as assembly and import enterprises are gradually shifting to Vietnam due to the market's many advantages," Mr. Sam Hui commented and said that understanding sourcing trends of buyers is important for enterprises wanting to expand their cross-border markets.

Source: congthuong.vn