Phones continue to lead exports

Exports of phones and phone parts were worth $51.18 billion last year, a whopping 18 percent of Vietnam’s total exports, according to the General Statistics Office.

The phones were exported to over 50 countries and territories, with China being the largest market, accounting for almost a quarter.

The second-largest market was the EU with 19 percent, followed by the U.S., South Korea, and the UAE.

But for the first time in 10 years, phone and component exports fell, by 0.4 percent.

Samsung was the biggest contributor to the exports. Its smartphone manufacturing factories in the northern provinces of Bac Ninh and Thai Nguyen are its two largest in the world and are also its largest home electronics factory in Southeast Asia.

About 60 percent of all Samsung smartphones are produced in Vietnam.