VNExpress-Jan 24
“Do you think Vietnam has the potential to become the world’s next factory?” A reporter from Singapore recently asked me that question. This wasn’t the first time that I heard Vietnam’s name being uttered in conversations about this so-called “world factory.” There is information saying Apple has plans to, for the first time ever, move certain MacBook manufacturing activities to Vietnam in 2023, and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh recently suggested Samsung produce chips in Vietnam starting this year. The year 2022 was the year of de-globalization, where nations tried to reduce their interdependence regarding manufacturing and production. One of the main drivers of this shift was the United States, which wanted its businesses, as well as those of its allies, to depend less on China when it comes to manufacturing. During the time of China’s strict Covid-19 policies, many countries moved their production out of China. Vietnam then emerged as potentially the next best thing according to several leading economic media, such as The Economist, Nikkei Asia and Bloomberg. The Economist called Vietnam a winner in the age of de-globalization, while Caixin, a financial magazine in China, also mentioned Vietnam as a potential candidate for the role of “world’s factory,” in addition to countries like India or Mexico. It is not hard to see that in the eyes of the world’s press, Vietnam is an important link in the global supply chain, and holds the potential to become the next world’s factory.
But when we look deeper into this issue, we see that the road leading towards that vision is not so clear-cut. The majority of articles in these esteemed publications regard Vietnam as a “buffer zone,” where China and other countries want to move parts of their production to. The Caixin article pointed out that one of the solutions for China during its period of competition with the United States is to turn countries like Vietnam into “buffer zones,” where products could be assembled before being shipped elsewhere. By Ho Quoc Tuan-Lecturer at University of Bristol, England. Read more at: https://e.vnexpress.net/news/perspectives/vietnam-dreams-of-becoming-world-s-next-factory-but-what-will-it-cost-4560825.html
