Vietnam: From catfish to computers
Vietnam is gradually becoming an important market in its own right. It boasts the region's second-fastest-growing economy after China, and its rapidly expanding middle class is buying up cell phones, personal computers and iPods. There are some 10 million mobile phone subscribers, and computer penetration in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City is approaching 50%, says Intel.
Vietnam has long been known as a low-cost manufacturer of Nike sneakers, blouses for Liz Claiborne and wooden furniture, not to mention its huge exports of coffee, catfish and rice.
However, a growing wave of high-tech investors is helping this country of 84 million lay the foundation to become Southeast Asia's next big center for electronics manufacturing.
