Vingroup has injected more than VND13.6 trillion (US$581.32 million) into its VinFast automobile project in the first nine months of this year, marking an increase of over VND12.9 trillion compared with the beginning of last year.

This information was revealed in the group’s third-quarter financial report.

VinFast, the country’s first automobile brand, has an estimated total investment of $4.2 billion, partly from internal resources and the remainder from its affiliates and outside sources.

According to Luong Duc Toan, an official from the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Department of Industry, a number of businesses in South Korea’s automobile support industry had expressed an interest in VinFast. Some of these companies, who also supplied South Korean car brands such as Hyundai and Kia, planned to come to Viet Nam to manufacture auto parts and components for VinFast.

Speaking at a seminar on policies, barriers and solutions to develop the automobile industry in Ha Noi this week, Toan said South Korean firms saw it as potential customer and would seek to connect and participate into this automaker’s supply chain. Toan suggested setting up centres for supporting industry development.

In June this year, VinFast successfully organised a workshop with 300 global parts suppliers in Frankfurt, Germany.

The company targets large-scale production with a capacity of 250,000 cars in the first phase in the northern city of Hai Phong and 500,000 cars in the next phase, becoming the top car manufacturer in the Southeast Asia. — VNS