Asia | Chain reaction

Vietnam is emerging as a winner from the era of deglobalisation

Yet achieving its goal of becoming a rich country by 2045 will still be a huge task

A factory worker shops for phone accessories after work in a newly-built neighborhood near the Van Trung Industrial Park, in Bac Giang province, Vietnam, Aug. 20, 2022. Worried about geopolitical tensions and stung by pandemic shutdowns, Google, Apple and others are moving some work to nearby countries. (Linh Pham/The New York Times)Credit: New York Times / Redux / eyevineFor further information please contact eyevinetel: +44 (0) 20 8709 8709e-mail: info@eyevine.comwww.eyevine.com

Sep 22nd 2022|BAC NINH

Antony to swaggers between the rows of humming machines in his factory in Bac Ninh province, in Vietnam’s north-east, as they spit out blistering-hot bits of plastic. His firm, Hanpo Vina, ships the bits to the Samsung plant down the road as well as to nearby makers of printers, speakers, laptops and other electronic items. Mr To picks a Brazil-bound Samsung phone charger from a counter and displays it proudly. On the back, laser-etched in Portuguese, is a version of that familiar stamp of globalisation: Fabricado no Vietname.

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Chain reaction”