Supporting industries engineer growth

Before the Lunar New Year, United States-based OrthoLite Company, the world’s leading supplier of insoles for shoe-makers, officially inaugurated its cell foam shoes insole manufacturing factory project in southern Binh Duong province.

Meanwhile, Japan-invested Ohashi Tekko Vietnam recently got the thumbs up for its car and motorcycle spare parts manufacturing factory in northern Vinh Phuc province’s Binh Xuyen Industrial Park. The $14 million factory is expected to come online in early 2014.

In northern Bac Giang province, scores of foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in supporting industries were granted investment certificates in early 2013.

Korea-based Shingshung Vina  received an investment certificate to develop the $2 million car and mobile telephone component plant with a designed capacity of 22.5 million products per year. The new facility will be built in Song Khe-Noi Hoang Industrial Park covering 10,000 square metres.

In February, Bac Giang Provincial People’s Committee granted a new investment certificate for South Korea’s Dae Gwang Vina Company to develop the third phase of its mobile telephone components manufacturing factory worth $6.4 million and the designed capacity of 9.5 million products per year.

In early 2013, Korea’s Heasung Tech Company set foot in Bac Giang province to develop its $665,000 electronic spare parts processing and assembling factory with the annual production capacity of 60 million products.

Previously, in late December 2012, another South Korean firm, Sung Dwang Company was licenced to develop its $300,000 mobile telephone’s cover and electronic components factory in Bac Giang province.

Kim Yong Seok, planning director of Samsung Electronics Vietnam, said the suppliers’ new manufacturing factories in Bac Giang would  provide parts for northern Bac Ninh province-based Samsung’s mobile phone manufacturing factory.

Seok said that by late 2012, there were 69 foreign suppliers following the steps of Samsung, the biggest mobile phone maker of the world, to come to Vietnam.

He also said the number of foreign suppliers was forecasted to rise when Samsung expands its investment capital to $1.5 billion from $670 million in developing its complex in Bac Ninh and especially its $2 billion  new facility in neighbouring Thai Nguyen province will be officially kicked-off this year.

Also, Nokia’s mobile phone manufacturing factory in Bac Ninh province and LG’s large scale project in Haiphong also will create good opportunities to attract supporting industry investors to Vietnam.

Nguyen Van Dao, deputy director of Samsung Vina Company, which is operating a TVset manufacturing facility in Ho Chi Minh City, said Vietnam should introduce better investment incentives for supporting industry investors.