Taipei-listed Pegatron joins Apple’s two other iPhone assemblers -- Wistron Corp. and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. -- in developing manufacturing facilities or building extra capacity in Vietnam.

Vietnam emerged as top beneficiary from manufacturing diversifying production away from China, as the latter has lost its competitive edge five years ago.

Apple partners such as Hon Hai Precision, Wistron, Inventec and Pegatron are eyeing Vietnam as they plan to move beyond China.

These projects are expected to create 22,500 direct jobs and manufacture products that are supplied to Microsoft, Sony, Lenovo and Apple.

While global FDI is projected to decline by 40% year-on-year in 2020, FDI commitments to Vietnam in the first eight months dropped 13.7% year-on-year to US$19.54 billion.