Viet Nam leapfrogs South Korea to become U.S’ sixth largest trade partner: East Asia Forum

According to the forum on economics, politics, and public policy in East Asia and the Pacific, this jump represents an important pivot in Viet Nam's economy—Viet Nam's biggest export to the U.S. is no longer textiles and garments, but high-tech products.

By the end of 2023, many flagship Apple products will have been assembled in Viet Nam. Viet Nam has branded itself as an additional manufacturing destination to China within the global supply chain ecosystem.

The Southeast Asian nation has the potential to become the fourth largest exporter of high-tech goods behind China, Taiwan (China) and Germany.

Though Viet Nam currently holds seventh position, its growth has no rival-high-tech goods as a share of Vietnamese exports hit 42 percent in 2020, up from 13 percent in 2010.

The Vietnamese government's intervention in opening the country up for free trade and foreign direct investment can be seen as overwhelmingly positive and non-threatening to the global trading system.

The current foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows from fintech companies are giving Viet Nam more time to address its dependency on foreign innovation inputs.

Viet Nam has uniquely positioned itself to be among the fastest growing economies in the coming decade. 

And its success in managing COVID-19 as Asia's top performing economy during the pandemic has strengthened the country's reputation as a safe and friendly environment for FDI./.