Patterns of industrialization and the state of industrial labour in post-WTO accession Vietnam

Since the mid-2000s Vietnam has become an important manufacturing hub in garment and, increasingly, in electronics. However, the expansion of an FDI-dominated, export-oriented manufacturing did not contribute to a genuine national industrialisation process and the weight of manufacturing on GDP has actually declined. Low industrial wages (associated with poor working conditions) have emerged as a structural (rather than transitory) competitive factor for the country’s participation in global production networks.