Summary:

Asian economies are some of the world’s biggest exporters of high-technology products, including computers, electrical machinery, and pharmaceuticals.

China has remained the world’s largest high-tech exporter for over a decade. The presence of Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia among the major high-tech exporters in 2020 reflects their rising export sophistication and significance in the global high-tech trade.

Vietnam has progressively emerged as an advanced manufacturing hub in Southeast Asia. In 2010, Vietnam’s high-tech exports amounted to just over 6 billion current US dollars. However, the volume grew by more than fifteen-fold in the following decade, positioning Vietnam as the world’s seventh largest high-tech exporter, nearly on par with Japan. Such a remarkable transformation exhibits Vietnam’s success in attracting foreign investment, particularly in high-tech sectors. And this upward trajectory is likely to persist in light of the recent global supply chain restructuring.

Highlights:

• China’s dominance in labour-intensive manufacturing activities, particularly assembly processes, could contribute to its leading position in high-tech exports.
• High-tech exports from the established technological powerhouses, including Germany, South Korea, the United States, and Japan, showed modest growth or declined.
• Despite its relatively small size, Singapore’s high-tech export values surpassed those of the United States and Japan in 2020. According to the World Bank, Singapore is one of the few economies whose high-tech products constitute more than 50% of its total manufactured exports.

Article By YAN, Bowen

Graphic By GE, Yixuan