Before the global tech supply chain recently shifted its way, Vietnam’s Bac Giang province was one of the nation’s poorest regions, known for producing rice, lychees, and poultry dubbed “running chicken.” Now officials in the rural area north of Hanoi host representatives from Apple and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.
John Boudreau and Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen for Bloomberg:
The growth in foreign investment is almost doubling every year — even during the coronavirus pandemic — and the province forecasts the value of exports this year will reach $11 billion, a tenfold leap in six years. Residents have swapped loud, dirty motorbikes for new Honda two-wheelers while others drive Toyota SUVs and Mercedes sedans on freshly paved roads.
“Life is heaven now and it’s thanks to the factories,” said Nguyen Van Lanh, 64. His family, which once couldn’t afford to buy meat, runs boarding rooms for workers built with their factory salary savings. One relative with a loan business for plant employees drives a red Mercedes-Benz.
The boom in Bac Giang highlights how the shift in the world’s supply chains is touching regions previously left behind. Vietnam’s ability to attract more sophisticated manufacturing is accelerating with rising Chinese labor costs, the U.S.-China trade war and logistics vulnerabilities amid the epidemic… Its 2010 per capita income was $650, about half that of the nation overall, according to government statistics… Now the province is experiencing its first boom as per capita income is forecast at $3,000 this year.
MacDailyNews Take: Ah, the ripple effects of Apple’s move to seriously begin diversifying production are being felt in Vietnam and elsewhere.
Dear Apple: I think we could use some boomtowns right here in America, but thanks for helping the communists that killed lots of Americans instead!
The people of Vietnam were defending their homeland against the invaders. It is the same the US nationals would do if somebody invades USA.
Nope. The war was in essence between those Vietnamese who wanted a communist takeover and those who did not, chief. The Americans were assisting the latter.
The americans were assisting a corrupt government that could not keep by its own means. And the americans believed to be invencible and could subjugate a poor country with military power.
Dear Alex,
I was there getting shot at. You are an ignorant fool. Go talk about something you might know about.
JT has it exactly right. We were obligated by the SEATO treaty to come to the aid of the elected government when they were invaded by the Communist backed North. We blew up a Russian tank that crossed the DMV. We saw the Russian made AK-47 rifles they shot at us with. China was a major supplier too. All the same as what happened to cause the Korean War in 1950.
J
Didn’t we kill the elected government … just like we did in Iran?
Joining a war to get shot is not smart. Being in that illegal war is an international and US crime. Any soldier obeying the illegal order to go to Viet Nam is a criminal because obeying an illegal order is a crime.
The good part is that your deplorable loss of that war allowed VN to remain poor for a long time which permits companies like Apple to employ slave wage laborers there to keep prices low and margins high as well as keep pollution there instead of polluting within US borders. So you did bad stuff to produce good Capitalist results.
Well said soldier and I want to salute you and thank you for your service!!! 👏🏻🇺🇸
Certainly there are several detractor and Vietnam revisionist posts here I simply score them irrelevant.
Take care C (A Bronx Tale)…
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Amen!
Apple made in America not Communist countries what a glorious goal. You can do it, Apple!
Now the board and obedient beancounter will have to settle for less profit, but hey, Apple is the wealthiest company in history with billions of idle cash in the bank. Seriously, how much is enough?
Just do the right move for the citizens of the good old USA…
LOL. no matter how much you whine, there is no financial motivation to move those factories to the US.
LOL. No matter how much defend putting Americans out of work at the expense of defending greedy high profits you should be ashamed of yourself…
I never suggested putting any americans out of work. Nice try though. The fact is, it’s not economical to build those products here.
You mean the greed profit factor is LOW. We can agree on that…
Sorry gob. Factories in China, Vietnam, India are the american way. That Capitalism and free market thing.
Their is absolutely NOTHING AMERICAN about shipping jobs overseas for obscene profits!!!
Obviously Democrats like you and Biden have no problem with it as Clinton passed NAFTA and Trump is righting the WORST trade deal in history.
Get a grip…
If AAPL will give me one of those no-interest, forgivable $5M loans, I’ll create a piece of the supply chain Right here in the good ole USA.
The people of Vietnam were protecting their homeland against the invaders. That is the same the US nationals would do if somebody invades USA.
I think the movie Red Dawn illustrates it well. The Wolverines at that school can be likened to Viet Cong in North Viet Nam. And, yes, VN was an illegal war and so were all subsequent ones.
I guess in Rambo Part 10, we will see Rambo being chased by a Soviet era helicopter, then a foot chase through a Vietnamese iPhone factory — maybe he will be aided by kids playing Pokemon Go . . . I see some real possibilities here. 😉
The Taycan is made in Stuttgart (and of most of better stuff), 1/3 of the Apple devices can be made in America and Europe, but slave labor and profit is what Apple (and English speaking world) wants.
No labor unions is also what they want also.