Vietnam has emerged as one of the world's leading manufacturing destinations, achieving 8% GDP growth in 2025 with US$930+ billion in total trade. With 11 million skilled workers, 18 free trade agreements (including CPTPP and RCEP), and a February 2025 Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with New Zealand targeting NZ$3 billion in bilateral trade by 2026, Vietnam offers unprecedented opportunities for Kiwi businesses.
Vietnam has emerged as one of the world's most compelling manufacturing destinations for Australian businesses. Driven by competitive labour costs, improving factory infrastructure, strong free trade agreement coverage, and a rapidly growing skilled workforce, Vietnam offers a compelling alternative — and in many categories, a superior option — to China for Australian importers.
Vietnam's manufacturing sector has grown at an extraordinary pace over the last decade. GDP growth has consistently exceeded 6–8% annually, driven largely by exports. Major global brands including Samsung, Nike, Apple suppliers, and IKEA have all significantly expanded Vietnamese production. This investment has built factory infrastructure, workforce skills, and supply chain depth across multiple product categories.
Vietnam excels in garments and activewear, footwear and leather goods, wooden furniture and homewares, bamboo and eco products, electronics assembly, and seafood and agricultural exports. For Australian businesses, garments and furniture in particular represent strong value propositions — combining lower labour costs, good quality standards, and active FTA coverage.
Australia's membership in CPTPP and RCEP means most manufactured goods from Vietnam enter Australia at 0% import duty. This tariff advantage is a significant factor in total landed cost comparisons between Vietnam and China, particularly for garment and furniture categories where import duties can otherwise add 5–15% to the product cost.
Vietnam is not yet able to match China's breadth across all product categories. Electronics, machinery, complex plastics, and high-volume production still favour China. However, for textiles, garments, furniture, and sustainable products, Vietnam is increasingly competitive or superior on cost, quality, and ethical sourcing grounds.
Many Australian businesses are adopting a China+1 strategy — maintaining China as their primary sourcing country while establishing a secondary sourcing corridor through Vietnam. This diversification reduces geopolitical risk, provides production continuity during Chinese New Year shutdowns, and opens access to Vietnam's growing manufacturing capabilities.
Epic Sourcing has a dedicated team based in Ho Chi Minh City with direct relationships across Vietnam's key manufacturing provinces. We manage supplier finding, sampling, quality control, and logistics for Australian businesses sourcing from Vietnam.
Ready to start sourcing from Vietnam? Our Vietnamese supplier finding service connects Australian businesses with verified factories across Ho Chi Minh City and key manufacturing provinces. For a complete overview of importing from Vietnam, visit our Vietnam import solutions page.
