|
Local electronics firs urged to ’rewire’
The right direction for Vietnam's electronics industry to survive in the regional and global electronics market is specialisation and integration, according to the Viet Nam Electronics Industries Association (VEIA).
Vietnam has over 100 enterprises specialising in manufacturing electronic products, including 25 foreign-invested companies. Most local enterprises are small or medium-scale.
According to the General Statistics Office, Vietnam has over 100 enterprises specialising in manufacturing electronic products, including 25 foreign-invested companies. Most local enterprises are small or medium-scale.
In order to have a place in the regional electronics industry, Vietnamese enterprises should integrate into the global value chain of the world's electronics industry, said Tran Quang Hung, secretary general of VEIA.
Economic experts agree that the world's electronics industry has been shifting towards specialisation and integration, and local corporations will focus on activities with higher-added value like marketing or sales instead of production.
In order to reduce the cost of production and transportation, corporations will divide the process of production into many stages and locate it in many countries in order to create a global production network.
"To survive, local electronic enterprises should only focus on areas in which they have an advantage in producing highly competitive products and should be part of a production network in the region," Hung said.
"However, domestic enterprises should invest intensively rather than in a widespread manner, actively seeking partners to co-operate in production, investment and technology transfer and paying attention to the research and design of new products to improve added value and competitiveness," he added.
Economists forecast that the global electronic products market will expand with an average rate of 8 to 10 per cent in the period of 2008-2010; the growth rate of specialised electronic products will rise from 9 to 10 per cent; the household electronic product market will grow 5 per cent.
In the consumer market, products with high growth rates include digital equipment at 15-18 per cent growth; telecommunication devices with 12-15 per cent; microcomputers with 10-12 per cent; and semiconductor instruments and components with 6 per cent.
In years to come, the electronic products market will grow rapidly not only in the specialised products market but also in the household products area which has been skyrocketing.
However, if the industry does not prepare the infrastructure to support these changes, it is likely to face obstacles. Vietnam will have to open the market up fully for 100 per cent foreign-invested retailers.
Domestic electronics enterprises have made much progress over the past year in making the transition from simple assembly to research, design, and manufacturing.
Some enterprises have built popular brands like VTB, Belco, Hanel and Tien Dat.
The annual growth rate of the industry is from 20 to 30 per cent. Revenue from the industry has increased year to year, from US$1.77 billion in 2006 to $2.2 billion in 2007 and is expected to reach $3 billion by the end of 2008.
VNN
|
