EXPORT EARNINGS FROM COMPUTERS AND ELECTRONICS OUTPACE APPAREL INDUSTRY

As an indication of Vietnam’s entering the ranks of countries with more industrialized economies, Vietnam’s export earnings from computers, electronic products and their spare parts are now ranked second in revenues, with traditional textiles and garments falling behind to third place.

Preliminary data from the General Department of Vietnam Customs indicated that computers, electronics products and their spare parts brought in some US$4 billion in exports in the first half of this month, bringing the total, so far this year, to US$20.21 billion, an increase of US$2.74 billion from one year earlier.

This growth enabled the export earnings of the group to finish in second place, just behind those of phones and phone parts, which stood at US$30.33 billion during the same 8.5-month period.

Meanwhile, the exports of textiles and garments, which had long remained in second place, are currently ranked third.

Textiles and garments earned US$3.31 billion in exports in the first half of this month, raising the 8.5-month figure to US$19.91 billion, up US$1.89 billion against the year-ago period.

Many local textile and garment firms saw orders from importers falling by 30% in the first half of the year, according to Truong Van Cam, vice president and general secretary of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association.

He noted that the low volume of orders were reported by many firms, even large ones, which was contrary to earlier predictions.

Many experts had forecast that the escalating trade war between the United States and China would help shift orders from China to Vietnam.

Also, Vietnam has engaged in multiple new-generation free trade agreements, such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), which were expected to boost local exports.

Seeking to explain the data, Cam said apparel importers might place orders in other countries with better contract terms, while the hoped-for benefits from free trade agreements with Vietnam remain unclear.

Some textile and garment firms said that they had suffered a slowdown in their growth in the first months of this year due to a shortage of employees and rising production costs, coupled with fewer orders.

Customs figures also revealed that the country had imported large amounts of computers, electronic products and spare parts, especially from China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, and the United States.

In the year to mid-August, more than US$31.1 billion had been spent on the imports of computers, electronics products and spare parts, leading to a trade deficit of US$10.9 billion.

Source: The Saigon Times