In 2021, exports of computers, electronic products and components earned Vietnam 50.8 billion USD, making it the second biggest export group, according to the General Department of Customs.
Export turnover of this group of goods last year grew 14.1% year-on-year, equivalent to an increase of 6.3 billion USD, accounting for over 15% of the nation's total export turnover.
The US market was the biggest for this group of goods from Vietnam, accounting for 25% of exports. Exports to mainland China reached nearly 11.1 billion USD, although only increased by less than 1% and accounted for 21.83% of the total export turnover of the whole industry.
The third largest market was Hong Kong, which grew by 50%, bringing turnover to 6.3 billion USD. The EU came fourth with 5.9 billion USD, up 2.6%, and the Republic of Korea ranked fifth, reaching 3.5 billion USD, up nearly 22%.
Four other markets with export turnover from 1 billion USD to 2 billion USD were the Netherlands with 1.8 billion USD, up 5.2%; Mexico (1.4 billion USD, up 17.4%); Poland (1.1 billion USD, up 14.9%) and Slovakia (1.0 billion USD, up 27.7%).
In addition, there were a series of markets with import turnover of nearly 1 billion USD, including Japan (996 billion USD), Taiwan (938 million USD), Singapore (924 million USD), and India (828 million USD).
In 2021, Vietnam’s exports of computers, electronic products and components to the UK also saw an encouraging increase of 5.6% year-on-year. This group of goods was also among the list of key industrial products of Vietnam exported to the UK. That also included phones and components; machinery, equipment and spare parts, and steel and iron.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade said tariff preferences under the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA) are providing many Vietnamese products, typically computers, electronic products and components, with competitive advantages compared with similar products from other countries.
Under the trade pact, 74% of tariffs on computers, electronic products and components imported from Vietnam have been eliminated since January 1, 2021 while tariffs on all other products will be removed after two or four years.
In addition, Vietnamese exporters can also utilise the UK’s increasing demand for these products to foster their exports to this lucrative market, trade experts said.
The UK Department for International Trade said that out of the UK's top 10 imported products in 2021, electronic equipment ranked fifth with a turnover of 45.1 billion GBP (52.7 billion USD), up 3% year-on-year. In the second quarter of this year, the UK's electronic equipment saw a yearly hike of 15.7% to surpass 12.5 billion GBP.
Nguyen Canh Cuong, trade counsellor at Vietnam's Embassy to the UK, told Viet Nam News that the UK does not have its own consumer electronics manufacturing industry. All consumer electronics products available in the market are imported.
Market demand is huge and is constantly increasing, especially for smartphones, tablets, laptops and PCs, Cuong said, adding that that will create opportunities for Vietnam's consumer electronics products.
He told Viet Nam News that Vietnam’s exports of consumer electronics products to the UK will surge in the near future.
Despite a bright outlook for this group of goods to the UK, more support from the State and greater efforts from Vietnamese exporters are needed amid the country's participation in many free trade agreements, experts have suggested.
In order to facilitate exports of computers, electronic products and components to overseas markets including the UK, the General Statistics Office underlined the need to provide support for firms in the process of researching new products, launch trade promotion schemes, and fine-tune the legal system, especially specific regulations placed on goods of Vietnamese origin.
Simultaneously, it is essential to boost export market expansion, improve the operational efficiency of Vietnam's representative agencies abroad and sector associations in implementing trade promotion activities whilst disseminating the details of the FTAs so that businesses could utilise the opportunities brought by these FTAs.
The export turnover of computers, electronic products and components is forecast to continue to grow strongly this year and the export milestone of 60 billion USD is not out of reach, according to experts.
