Illustrative image. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamis again in the spotlight after Apple’s move to shift production activities tothis Southeast Asian country, according to TRT World page of Turkish Radio andTelevision Corporation.

This move showed that Vietnam has emerged as a preferred manufacturing destination for global tech giants.

For thefirst time, Apple is moving part of its iPad manufacturing out of China, takingthem to factories in Vietnam, Nikkei Asia reported on June 1. 

Thedevelopment comes as lockdowns in the Chinese city of Shanghai disrupted supplychains for various tech products, prompting the iPhone maker to findalternatives, it said, adding that an iPad assembler has already built assemblylines in Vietnam.

Apple isalready sourcing its Airpod earpieces from the Southeast Asian economy, whichhas registered sustained economic growth in the past two decades. 

Vietnam has placed itself as a favourite destination for outsourcing manufacturing since thecountry adopted economic reform in 1980s.

A number ofgarment and shoe makers have moved their production lines from China to Vietnam after2007.

But where Vietnam has really made its presence felt in the past decade has been in its ability to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) in factories that are assembling and manufacturing tech products from smartphones to TV components. 

TheRepublic of Korea (RoK) and Japan – home to some of the biggest technologynames – accounted for 376 billion USD in total FDI poured into Vietnamesemanufacturing sector between 2015 and 2020, according to one study. 

Last year, theRoK electronics giant LG invested more than 1 billion USD to increase OLEDdisplay output at the port city of Hai Phong.

Even beforethe COVID-related supply chain disruptions, rising tension between US and Chinahad prompted tech companies to shift production to other countries, notably to Vietnam. 

Accordingto an analysis of Nomura – a Japanese investment bank, Vietnam’s economy wasboosted by almost 8 percent due to the shift in production during the trade war. 

Vietnam’smanufacturing sector has grown in double digits before the pandemic caused disruptionsglobally. Samsung already accounts for a quarter of Vietnam’s exports while Intel has set up its biggest chip assembly plant there. 

All of thishas helped Vietnam, a country of 100 million people, become one of thefastest-growing economies in the world. 

There arepredictions that Vietnam’s economy can overtake Singapore within a few years ifit's able to maintain the current growth trajectory, TRT World reported. 

OxfordEconomics forecast that around 4 percent of global electronic exports willcome from Vietnam 🔜by 2025./.