Taiwanese businesses have long invested in Vietnam, which has become a hub for global manufacturing. The Southeast Asian country is aiming to grow its economy and is pushing for high-tech upgrades, forcing Taiwanese factories there to keep up.
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00:00Taiwanese businessman Tsen Yen Tsen has been making ceramic pigments at this factory in
00:06southern Vietnam for 20 years, producing as much as 400 tons of colors a month for tiles.
00:15Tsen was part of a wave of Taiwanese manufacturers who came to Vietnam in the early 2000s.
00:22Land and labor were cheap, and from here they could tap into new overseas markets previously
00:28inaccessible from Taiwan.
00:30Vietnam is a relatively young and developing country.
00:36The biggest trend in Vietnam is the foreign exchange market, which can face the entire Southeast Asia.
00:51Once among the world's poorest countries, Vietnam has emerged as one of the region's
00:56leading economies.
00:58Its strategic location, large workforce and infrastructure to support export have helped
01:04the country become a hub for manufacturing, a sector which makes up about a quarter of
01:09its GDP.
01:11Vietnam has also benefited from a global production shift away from China amid Beijing's crackdowns
01:18on foreign firms.
01:20Taiwan has been a strong contributor to this growth, becoming Vietnam's fourth largest
01:25investor.
01:26Taiwanese investment here in Vietnam has quadrupled in the last few years.
01:31In Ho Chi Minh City, once a land filled with swamps, forests and empty patches of flat
01:36areas like the one behind me, has now transformed into a bustling metropolis.
01:41The city and the country's capital, Hanoi, are both among the top fastest-growing cities
01:47in the world.
01:48In fact, Vietnam is expected to lead Southeast Asia as the region's economic growth is projected
01:55to outpace that of China's in the next decade.
01:59Taiwanese store owner Xu Yuling has long been optimistic about Vietnam.
02:03A longtime investor here, he believes Taiwan's status as a leading maker of cutting-edge
02:09chips has now made it a desirable partner for the region.
02:26To attract the desired tech players, Vietnam is also working to upgrade its manufacturing
02:38sector overall, and the Taiwanese factories already here are trying to keep up.
02:48Businessman Shi Bo-Chang has brought in tech solutions to increase the efficiency of his
02:53screws and bolts factory.
02:56He's the main supplier of motorbike screws to auto giants Honda and Yamaha in Vietnam,
03:02and given motorcycle ownership in the country is among the highest in the world, he's holding
03:07on to his place in the market and vying to stay competitive.
03:24Vietnam is moving quickly to push a digital transformation, forcing captains of industry
03:39to keep pace with its ambitious goals to lead the region in an advancing high-tech era.
03:45Yixin Chen, Alison Nguyen and Joyce Tsen in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam for Taiwan Plus.
03:53For more UN videos visit www.un.org