Recording the highest increase in both export and import
According to report of General Statistics Office, in the first 9 months of this year, total preliminary import-export turnover of goods reached 578.47 billion USD, up 16.3% over the same period last year, of which, preliminary export turnover of goods reached 299.63 billion USD, up 15.4% over the same period last year; preliminary import turnover of goods reached 278.84 billion USD, up 17.3% over the same period last year.
Electronics, computers and components are one of Vietnam's main export items, along with many industrial and export manufacturing sectors that are making efforts to recover after the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the first 9 months of 2024, export value of group of electronics, computers and components reached 52.8 billion USD, accounting for 17.6% of total export turnover, a sharp increase of 27.4% over the same period last year, the highest increase among group of items with leading export value. Major export markets of this group are still mainly EU, the United States and China.
On the other hand, import value of group of electronics, computers and components reached 79.1 billion USD, accounting for 28.4% of total import turnover, a sharp increase of 25.8% over the same period last year, also the highest increase among group of items with leading import value.
Thus, after 9 months of 2024, electronics, computers and components exported 52.8 billion USD, imported 79.1 billion USD; total import-export value reached 131.9 billion USD. With achieved import value and current high growth rate, there is every reason to hope that import turnover of electronics, computers and components will be the first item in history to reach an import value of 100 billion USD by 2024.
Improving capacity to be able to participate in the supply chain
Recently, especially since US-China trade war officially broke out in early 2018, development prospects of electronics, computers and components manufacturing industry have been assessed by many experts as bright when Vietnam has the opportunity to welcome investment wave of large technology corporations.
In the first 9 months of 2024, industrial production index of electronics, computers and optical products manufacturing industry increased by 9.1% over the same period last year, higher than general increase of 8.6% of entire industry, in which production of electronic components increased by 10.5%. This is a positive signal for recovery of production as well as import and export of electronic products, computers and components in 2024, forecasting a year of strong growth and positive contribution of this industry to the recovery of the entire Vietnamese economy.
In addition to achieved results, according to experts, although it is considered a key industry and has achieved some achievements in attracting foreign direct investment, playing a large role in exports, in reality, group of electronics, computers and components in Vietnam is still at early stage in electronic product production chain and depends largely on enterprises with foreign direct investment.
Products of Vietnamese enterprises have not focused on deep processing, have not developed export products with high technology and intelligence content, proportion of processed and manufactured products with high added value is still low. Capacity of domestic enterprises in the industry is still limited, quality and design of products have not met high requirements of the market.
Meanwhile, previously famous domestic electronics enterprises are developing slowly or gradually losing their brands and occupying a small market share. Although there are some emerging domestic electronics brands, domestic consumer electronics market is mainly dominated by foreign brands.
Electronics industry in Vietnam has many advantages for development as Vietnam is geographically located in a region with a fast-growing and dynamic industrial sector. In addition, there is a domestic market of more than 100 million people and direct access to the 600 million-people market of the ASEAN region, a large international export market thanks to participation in free trade agreements.
In addition, Vietnam also has an abundant labor force and is considered to be a quick learner in exploiting, using and assembling electronic devices, including modern electronic devices. Relatively low labor costs create a competitive advantage for businesses compared to businesses in the region...
Vietnam is also a country with important mineral resources necessary to develop electronic materials industry such as iron ore, rare earth, titanium, rutile, barite, ilmenite... In addition, Vietnam is a country with stable political security, which is the most important factor for foreign investment enterprises. This has created confidence for foreign investors in a safe investment environment, along with a significantly improved legal and institutional framework that has attracted many foreign investment projects to Vietnam.
In recent times, Ministry of Industry and Trade has implemented many international cooperation programs and projects, FDI enterprises have had certain policies to support domestic suppliers and domestic enterprises themselves have also made great efforts to improve product quality and competitiveness to join global supply chain.
However, to take advantage of opportunities and effectively implement free trade agreements, many opinions say that electronics enterprises need to improve their capacity to be able to participate in supply chain of leading enterprises operating in Vietnam and increase their participation in business networking activities and events to be able to take advantage of opportunities to connect with electronics enterprises of leading corporations in the world.
In addition, to be proactive and develop electronics industry quickly and sustainably today, it is necessary to build measures to protect consumer electronics market (such as defense taxes, technical barriers, anti-trade fraud, counterfeit and smuggled goods, etc.). At the same time, focus on supporting a number of promising Vietnamese enterprises in electronics sector to create opportunities for these enterprises to develop and play a leading role in domestic electronics market, especially household electronics products.

Source: Vitic/ congthuong.vn