Vietnam’s electronics industry continues to grow despite COVID-19

Vietnam’s electronics industry, an increasingly important sector of the country’s economy, continues to grow despite the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

Amid the pandemic, the sector brought home US$77.58 billion over the past nine months of 2021, statistics from the General Department of Customs showed.

Of this, the export of handsets and components contributed US$41.02 billion,up 11.5% year-on-year. Among major export markets were China with a turnover of US$9.8 billion, up 52%, the US with a value of US$7.09 billion, up 1.1% and the EU with US$5.56 billion, down 18%.

Meanwhile, the export value of electronics, computers and components topped US$ 36.56 billion, surging 13.6% over the same period of last year with US$9.3 billion from exports to the US, up 26.5%; US$7.8 billion from China, down 6.2% and US$ 4.63 billion from the EU, up 7%.

As these positive nine-month figures show, the electronics industry was well on track to earn the country between US$97 billion and US$100 billion by the end of this year, compared to a turnover of US$91.98 billion in 2020, according to Do Thi Thuy Huong, Executive Board Member of Vietnam Electronics Industries Association (VEIA).

Huong said the electronics industry posted the highest import-export turnover in the past 10 years. It also took the lead in export turnover among processing and manufacturing industries and accounts for 30-40% of national GDP in the period.

Despite the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry still showed positive signs over the nine-month period, Huong said.

She attributed the industry's export turnover growth in the period to an increase in demand for communication products used for distance working and learning such as mobile phones, computers, TVs and devices.

A number of companies that produced computer and electronics products in other countries were forced to close down due to the impacts of the virus. That led to local manufacturers winning more contracts, she said.