Japanese investment pouring into packaging production

The ground-breaking ceremony of the Artpresto Vietnam packaging factory in Ha Nam

Right after the Tet holiday, the Japan-invested factory of Artpresto Vietnam with the total investment of $5 million broke ground in Chau Son Industrial Zone, Ha Nam province, aiming to produce high-quality packaging products. When finished, the capacity of Artpresto Vietnam will be at 40 million products annually.

Artpresto, specialising in the design and trading of packaging and printing, was established in 1983 under Japan’s Bandai Namco Holdings. The total revenue of Artpresto in 2018 is estimated at JPY8 billion ($72.25 million).

Urano Masahiro, general director of Artpresto Vietnam, said that the factory will be part of the corporation’s supply chain of high-quality packaging for the Japanese and Vietnamese market. He confirmed that the demand of the parent company, Bandai Namco Holdings, and it is ample to accommodate the Vietnamese factory’s output.

Moreover, Artpresto Vietnam is the company’s first foothold in the Vietnamese

market, and will be the foundation for development in the Southeast Asia region. The holdings will be able to pour more and more money to expand business scale in Vietnam in the time coming, if it can perform as expected.

Earlier, in the middle of last year, United Packaging Co., Ltd. invested by Japanese Oji Holdings Corporation also developed a factory in Tan Phu Trung Industrial Park in Cu Chi ward, Ho Chi Minh City on an area of 5ha and with total investment of $15 million.

Using green and cutting-edge technologies, the factory of United Packaging manufactures paper cups and paper boxes for fast food restaurants, movie theatres, and teashops. This is the sixth facility of Oji Holdings Corporation in Vietnam, after projects in Haiphong, Ha Nam, and the 31^st factory in Southeast Asia. The facility is expected to be put into operation next May.

With the annual growth rate of 10-15 per cent, along with the trend of expansion and acquisition, processing and packaging in Vietnam is considered an attractive industry due to the diversity of forms, designs, and materials in demand. The industry’s growth rate is estimated at 25 per cent this year.

Nguyen Ngoc Sang, chairman of the Vietnam Packaging Association (VINPAS), said that foreign packaging companies are coming to Vietnam to seize business opportunities and a the same time accelerate the development of the domestic packaging industry. As competition is growing fierce, domestic businesses will have to invest more to catch up with the industry’s development.