The Ministry of Industry and Trade forecasts that the exports of telephones and their spare parts may exceed 20 billion USD in 2013, according to the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Online Newspaper.

In the first four months this year, telephone exports reached 5.97 billion USD, a year-on-year rise of 97.26 percent. This enabled telephone exports to overtake garments and textiles as the largest export commodity.

In 2011, telephone and component exports soared to 6.8 billion USD, a three-fold increase from the previous year. In 2012, this commodity surpassed crude oil to become the second leading export item, with a turnover of 12.7 billion USD, doubling the 2011 figure.

Vietnam’s telephones for exports are mainly produced by foreign-invested businesses, accounting for 98.2 percent. The made-in-Vietnam mobile phones are now exported to many countries and territories around the world.-VNA