From Asia Times, October 31:
Vietnam has benefitted [sic] enormously from China decoupling while simultaneously shadowing Beijing’s state capitalism growth model
Amid the Covid-19 pandemic and rising US-China trade tensions, Vietnam leapfrogged South Korea to become the United States’ sixth-largest trade partner by import value in 2022.
This jump represents an important pivot in Vietnam’s economy — Vietnam’s biggest export to the United States is no longer textiles and garments, but high-tech products.
By the end of 2023, many flagship Apple products will have been assembled in Vietnam. Rather than competing against China’s “world factory” tag, Vietnam has branded itself as an additional manufacturing destination to China within the global supply chain ecosystem.
In so doing, Vietnam has subsumed some of China’s tech export market share and has been declared the biggest beneficiary of the US-China economic decoupling.
Vietnam has provided a much-needed “neutral” environment for foreign fintech firms to de-risk and reroute their exposure from the US-China great power rivalry — including Apple’s shift of production away from China, US-based Amkor Technology’s investment of $1.6 billion investment in a semi-conductor factory. Vietnam is also welcoming back Huawei after initially deferring to US efforts to ban the company....
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And from Reuters via MSN, October 20:
UPDATE 3-Vietnam arrests rare earth industry officials, casting shadow over plans to rival China
HANOI, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Police in Vietnam have arrested six people accused of violating mining regulations, including the chairman of a company at the forefront of a drive to create a rare earth industry that could challenge China's dominance of the sector.
Vietnam's government is planning to auction new mining concessions for rare earths later this year, and officials from at least one company, Vietnam Rare Earth JSC (VTRE), that had been due to bid were among those arrested.
VTRE's chairman, Luu Anh Tuan, was accused of forging value added tax receipts in trading rare earths with Thai Duong Group, which operates a mine in the northern Vietnamese province of Yen Bai, the Ministry of Public Security said on Friday.
Calls to Tuan went unanswered on Friday. VTRE's office in Hanoi has been shut for days, one person at the building said.
VTRE has partnered with Australian mining companies Australian Strategic Materials (ASM) and Blackstone Minerals LTD, which were not named in the Vietnamese authorities' investigation.
Blackstone said in September that it had agreed to partner with VTRE to win concessions at the country's biggest mine, Dong Pao in Lai Chau province. A Blackstone executive had told Reuters its investment in the project would amount to about $100 million should it win the concession....
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Most recent on Vietnam:
"Vietnam joins South-east Asian effort on cross-border payments" (QR Code Based)
"Rare earths magnet firms turn to Vietnam in China hedge"
Well it's about time.*"The Era of Ultracheap Stuff Is Under Threat"
From the "places where futureflation will come from" file.Water: It's A Problem Being Downstream From China
These are some big rivers. Irrawaddy, Mekong, Brahmaputra and and..."All the people, so many people: most of the growth in emerging markets"
"Vietnam becomes vital link in supply chain as business pivots from China"
Vietnam has been rising for a while, one of our 2019 posts after the jump hits the high notes but, in markets as in other areas of endeavor, if you are too early you're not early, you're wrong.
