EAF – 18 October 2022
Authors: Guanie Lim, GRIPS and Chengwei Xu, NTU
In late August 2022, news broke that Apple was in talks to manufacture its famed Apple Watches and MacBooks in Vietnam for the first time. Some view this as a move by transnational corporations and their core suppliers to diversify their production away from China, buffering themselves from intensifying US–China geoeconomic competition.

Others interpret this as a sign of Vietnam’s deepening manufacturing prowess built on its famed 1986 doi moi (renovation) program. The reforms sought to reintegrate the country into the global economy. Among the more significant moves were the creation of stock exchanges, the promotion of private ownership and encouragement of private–public partnerships.







