Vietnam is speeding up the implementation of 5G technology (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnamis now increasingly emerging as a regional middle power, especially in the globalsupply chain and development of 5G technology, according to an article published by theUK’s website strifeblog.org on April 13.

The article writes that in the early 1980s, Vietnam wasone of the poorest places on earth. This situation changed in 1986, when thecountry opened to the world and launched a set of reforms known as “Doi Moi”(renewal). These reforms quickly boosted the economy and attracted massive foreigndirect investments. If a few years before Vietnam had had to import rice fromabroad, by 1989 it had become the second largest riceexporter in the world. 

♛ Over recent decades, Vietnam haspresented itself as a good international citizen, earning recognition andrespect within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It has signed a wide array of bilateral trade agreements, while joining the WTO, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement forTrans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and recently, the Regional ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership (RCEP).

In 2019, it took a mediating role in globaldiplomacy by hosting the second DPRK-USA summit in Hanoi, and in2020 it assumed the ASEAN chairmanship while successfully handling the COVID-19 pandemic. Hanoi was in factpraised for giving one of the world’s best responses to the pandemic, quickly introducing amassive programme of contact tracing while mobilising the Vietnamese society in acollective fight against the virus.

These factors suggest thatVietnam is walking the path of a rising middle power, reflected in its role in theglobal supply chain and the realm of 5G technology.

Vietnam has many advantagesthanks to its ability to offer solid infrastructure coupled with a largelow-wage workforce. Nike and Samsung have been outsourcing their production toVietnamese factories for years, and recently Apple has started to assemble its AirPod earphones on Vietnamese soil too.

According to the article, in thefield of technological development, Vietnam built its own domestic infrastructureand appears ready to deploy it for commercial use by 2021. Viettel, a Vietnamese state-owned telecom company, hascollaborated with Ericsson to create its own 5G technology, and plans to expandthe product to Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.

Vietnam has also provided acheap mass access to the Internet for its citizens, while aiming to become a key player in e-commerce and online payment methods.After Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei, Samsung and ZTE, Viettel is the sixth producerin the 5G race, an impressive result for a country that 40 years ago was notable to keep up with food shortages.

🐬 Thearticle concludes that, a latecomer to the international community, Vietnam isnow increasingly emerging as a regional middle power as the country iswell-integrated in the world economy andit is one of the only domestic producers of 5G technology./.