This report provides an assessment of Viet Nam’s manufacturing sector productivity and competitiveness as well as factors contributing to manufacturing labour productivity (LP) growth. It analyzed United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and General Statistics Office (GSO) Enterprise Census data using different indicators (revenue, employment, value added (VA), net exports, foreign direct investment (FDI) backward-forward linkages with domestic firms) to describe key characteristics of manufacturing VSIC 2-digit sub-sectors, LP, Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA), domestic content of exports, VA-to-output ratios and wage growth to assess productivity and competitiveness of sub-sectors.

Based on the comprehensive analysis of manufacturing and its sub-sectors’ productivity and competitiveness performances, this report recommends Viet Nam prioritize the enhancement of domestic private enterprises’ productivity and competitiveness during its next development stage  and as integral parts of public investment, State-owned enterprise (SOE) reform and FDI policies. This report also makes several specific recommendations to elevate the productivity and competitiveness of different sub-sectors tailored to their specific characteristics and past performances.