Inside the Manufacturing Industry in Vietnam: Sectors, Provinces and Real Costs
The manufacturing industry in Vietnam produced 24 percent of GDP in 2025 and $405 billion in exports. Four sectors and six provinces take most foreign orders.
H2: Manufacturing industry in Vietnam by sector
| Sector | 2025 exports | Anchor companies | Typical foreign order |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electronics and components | $134 billion | Samsung, Foxconn, LG, Intel | PCB assembly, cables, chargers |
| Textiles and garments | $44 billion | Vinatex, Crystal Group, TAL | Cut-and-sew, 3,000 to 100,000 pieces |
| Footwear | $23 billion | Pou Chen, Feng Tay, Chang Shin | Athletic and casual shoes, 5,000 pairs and up |
| Wood and furniture | $17 billion | Truong Thanh, AA Corporation, Kaiser | Indoor and outdoor furniture, 1 to 40 containers |
| Machinery and metal | $21 billion | Thaco, Doosan Vina, Hoa Phat | Steel structures, machined parts, tooling |
Electronics leads on value but runs on FDI (foreign direct investment) plants that rarely take orders under $1 million. Garments, footwear and furniture are where a mid-sized buyer gets a seat.
H2: Where the plants are
| Province | Distance to port | Specialty | Industrial land rent (2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binh Duong | 35 km to Cat Lai | Furniture, wood, plastics, metal | $190 to $230 per m² per lease term |
| Dong Nai | 40 km to Cat Lai | Footwear, garments, auto parts | $180 to $220 per m² |
| Bac Ninh | 120 km to Hai Phong | Electronics, Samsung supply chain | $170 to $210 per m² |
| Hai Phong | 0 to 20 km, own port | Electronics, machinery, VinFast | $150 to $190 per m² |
| Long An | 45 km to Cat Lai | Garments, packaging, food | $130 to $170 per m² |
| Binh Dinh | 5 km to Quy Nhon | Outdoor furniture, wood | $60 to $90 per m² |
The south (Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Long An) ships through Cat Lai in Ho Chi Minh City, the busiest container port in the country. The north (Bac Ninh, Hai Phong) serves the electronics chain.
H2: What manufacturing in Vietnam costs in 2026
| Cost line | Vietnam | Guangdong, China | Bangladesh |
|---|---|---|---|
| Factory worker, monthly | $280 to $420 | $650 to $950 | $150 to $220 |
| Electricity, industrial, per kWh | $0.08 | $0.10 | $0.09 |
| Corporate income tax | 20 %, 10 % in priority zones | 25 % | 27.5 % |
| US import duty on garments | Standard MFN | Standard MFN + 25 % Section 301 | Standard MFN |
| EU import duty on garments | 0 % under EVFTA from 2027 | 12 % | 0 % under EBA |
MFN is the Most Favoured Nation rate. EVFTA is the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, EBA the Everything But Arms scheme.
Vietnam costs 40 to 55 percent less than coastal China on labor and 60 to 90 percent more than Bangladesh. The premium buys speed: a Binh Duong furniture plant delivers in 45 to 60 days, Dhaka in 90 to 120.
H2: Vietnamese manufacturers and the China plus one shift
Between 2019 and 2025, 1,200 to 1,500 foreign-owned plants moved production from China to Vietnam, per the Ministry of Planning and Investment. Apple assembles AirPods, iPads and MacBooks in Bac Ninh and Bac Giang. Nike makes 50 percent of its footwear in Vietnam, 22 percent in China.
The side effect for smaller buyers: tier-1 plants are full. Lead times at the top 50 garment factories stretched from 60 to 95 days between 2023 and 2025.
The open capacity sits in tier-2 plants of 200 to 800 workers. They do not advertise, do not list on Alibaba and answer through local intermediaries.
H2: How foreign buyers enter the Vietnam manufacturing industry
Trade fairs (VIFA Expo for furniture in March, Saigon Tex for garments in April) give two days of face time with 400 to 600 exhibitors. B2B platforms give a shortlist mixed with trading companies. A local sourcing agent reaches the tier-2 plants that use neither.
Primo Sourcing, based in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, works that third route.
Over the last 12 months its team placed orders in 26 factories in Binh Duong, Dong Nai and Binh Dinh. Nineteen of them had no English-language website. The fee is flat per project, quoted before the search starts.
H2: Risks specific to Vietnam in 2026
- Labor shortage in Binh Duong and Dong Nai: turnover after Tet reaches 15 to 25 percent, so orders placed in January slip.
- Power rationing hit northern provinces in June 2023 and again in 2024; check the industrial park’s backup capacity for any electronics order.
- Origin fraud: US Customs opened 41 anti-circumvention cases on Vietnamese-origin goods in 2025, mostly Chinese components relabelled. Keep a bill of materials with supplier names.
- Land lease terms end in 2045 to 2055 in older parks; a plant in a 1996 park may not renew.
