What to export from Vietnam: Jobs for expats

With the recent trends showing that the Vietnam, which is located in a strategic position for foreign companies with operations throughout Southeast Asia, it is an ideal export hub to reach other ASEAN markets, many foreingers now would like to settle down and work in Vietnam.

They also need to consider what to export from Vietnam so that they couldknow what are potential aspects that they could consider to work in Vietnam.

Vietnam is widely known for being a prime location or investors operating in the textile industry, there are many other business areas that have proved signifgicant growth in the country. It is becoming a key location for high-technology manufacturing with companies like Samsung, LG, Electronics etc. Other businesses aspects consist of information and commuinications technology, automotive and medical devices.

The American Chamber of Commerce estimates that bilateral trade with the U.S will surge to $57 USD billion by 2020, cementing Vietnam’s prominence as a valuable hub for foreign investment.

Textiles and Garments

Textiles is among Vietnam’s leading export industry with employment upwards of 1.3 million workers in directly related jobs and more than two million with auxiliary work included. The growth of the garment industry has been considerably significant.

Within ASEAN, Vietnam is the strongest competitor for inheriting low value-added textiles and apparel manufacturing from China. In contrast to other leading textile exporters in the region (Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia), the share of Vietnam’s textile exports against its total exports has grown in recent years.

In terms of revenue, footwear is Vietnam’s third most productive export industry, generating US$ 8.5 billion in 2013. The country produces 800 million pairs of shoes per year.

Electronics

Vietnam has beenconsidered as an important electronics exporter with electrical and electronic products overtaking coffee, textiles, and rice to become the country’s top export item. Samsung is Vietnam’s largest exporter, which helps the country achieve a trade surplus for the first time in many years. Exports of smartphones and computer parts now account for more in export earnings than oil and garments. Samsung is attempting to turn Vietnam into a global manufacturing base for its products and has invested for over US$ 10 billion into the country.

Samsung has agreed to cooperate withVietnamese government in order to develop the country’s domestic support industries. This represents a key business opportunity for foreign technology companies to set up operations in Vietnam and sell their components to companies like Samsung.

Pharmaceuticals

The future looks tobe very interesting for the pharmaceutical industry in Vietnam. Recent economic forecasts have predicted a US$ 5 billion increase in value over the next six years, reaching a net worth of US$ 8 billion by 2020 – a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.4 percent. Driving this market growth is the Vietnamese government’s goal of achieving universal health coverage by 2015. 30% of the country’s population still has no form of public health insurance.

Automotive

Vietnam is becoming an important market for auto sales – August was the 17th consecutive month of sales growth, with a 59 percent year on year increase and total sales of 12,562 units. Interestingly, despite the country’s recent economic struggles, the luxury car market has continued to see healthy growth.

Despite an increasingly competitive auto market throughout the ASEAN region, Vietnam has stated that it intends to work aggressively to build up its own domestic auto industry. The key reason for this goal is that the auto industry has the potential to create thousands of jobs for locals and create a strong system of supporting industries.

Coffee

Vietnam becomes the world’s largest producer and exporter of coffee. Currently, the country is the world’s second largest coffee exporter, behind only Brazil. However, many experts believe that Vietnam has the potential to overtake Brazil thanks to such factors as favorable climate conditions and lower cost production. In recent years, coffee has become one of Vietnam’s key agricultural export products – with 95 percent of output being shipped abroad.

E-commerce

Vietnam is quickly becoming a prime market for foreign investment in e-commerce activities. The country’s rapidly growing economy and middle class are, in turn, spawning a strong consumer culture and increasing levels of disposable income. Electronic retail is fast becoming the preferred method of shopping—particularly among the country’s youth. It is predicted that in 2015 Vietnam will see more than US$ 4 billion in B2C e-commerce sales – current sales are estimated at around US$ 2.2 billion, with an average spending of US$ 120 per capita.

By 2016, internet penetration in Vietnam will reach 43 million people – 40-45 percent of the total population. This percentage is thought to be the “golden proportion” at which investors will pour into the e-commerce market.

Source: Vietnam Briefing February 3, 2015

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