The Next China? Vietnam Looks Good Only on Paper
Forget winning the U.S.-China trade war. For investors, an unbalanced stock market reflects profitless prosperity.
The Santa rally in emerging market stocks skips Vietnam.
Photographer: Yvan Cohen/LightRocket/Getty
A young labor force, a real estate boom, a politically stable Communist-led country that can reap riches through exports and a friendly relationship with the U.S. — many have compared Vietnam to what China was more than two decades ago. Add one more trait to this mix as we enter the 2020s: profitless prosperity.
With Vietnam quickly moving up the global supply chain, the Southeast Asian nation has been hailed as the biggest winner out of the current U.S.-China trade spat. High-profile relocations underscore the point. Alphabet Inc.’s Google is shifting production of Pixel smartphones, while Samsung Electronics Co. has closed its last smartphone plant in China. Even Chinese companies, such as Goertek Inc., supplier of Apple’s popular AirPods earphones, are moving. It’s prime time for Vietnam in the tech world. The country also notched just under 7% growth in gross domestic product, among the fastest in the world.