Alternative zu China: Das Wirtschaftswunder von Vietnam

Haiphong, in Ho-Chi-Minh City, Viet Nam - Ventilators to support the cooling systems of new AI data centers of American tech giants are stacked in cardboard boxes at a warehouse near the city. Inside stands Alexander Reich, head of the Baden-Württemberg manufacturer Ziehl-Abegg's branch in the Southeast Asian country. The ventilator producer is responsible for a large order intended for the AI infrastructure of Amazon.

The rollout is set to begin in the coming weeks. "We will ship around eight shipping containers full of ventilators to the USA every week," Reich says. The manager, who lived in China before moving to Viet Nam, walks through the 14,000-square-meter factory of the German family business. Next year, 60 percent of the production of the Vietnamese plant would be delivered to the USA, he says.

Ventilators sent to data center suppliers in Malaysia and then shipped to America are not even counted. "Vietnam is well connected to all countries and has the decisive advantage for us to be able to ship to the USA from here," Reich says. "From China, that would be much more difficult." In China, Ziehl-Abegg has its largest plant in Asia.

Wanting to reduce its dependence on the People's Republic, the company opened a new factory in the Vietnamese province of Dong Nai two years ago - just an hour away from Ho-Chi-Minh City by car. The German medium-sized enterprise is thus part of a massive rush of international corporations currently investing billions to expand their presence in Viet Nam. What does this mean for China? And what opportunities are there for German companies?