Vichai Pirathiyut, president of the Thailand Automotive Institute, said Viet Nam and Thailand has different auto industry policies, so both sides should cooperate rather than compete. —VNS photo Xuan Huong.

HCM CITY (Biz Hub) — With Viet Nam's low labour costs and young workforce, the automobile industry has good potential to develop here, but the right strategy is needed, an auto industry seminar heard in HCM City on April 2.

Vichai Pirathiyut, president of the Thailand Automotive Institute, said due to appropriate stimulus policies and development strategies the Thai auto industry was growing very strongly.

Last year his country had produced 1.8 million cars, exporting a million, he said.

Viet Nam's automobile industry had achieved significant growth in terms of both production and sales in the past few years, and would produce 220,000 cars by 2020 and 1.5 million by 2035, he said.

Though the Vietnamese auto industry was a late starter compared to Thailand, the Government's efforts to develop infrastructure, low labour costs and a young workforce indicated bright prospects for development, he said.

But the industry needed to develop a more robust supply chain, he said.

Harrison Liu, general director of Sanyang Industry, said to develop the industry the Government had to address the two biggest issues – how to stimulate demand and drawing a clear development strategy for the industry.

Pirathiyut suggested that Vietnamese automobile producers should gather under an association to combine strength and propose to the Government measures to boost the sector.

Thai producers have many advanced technologies that will benefit Vietnamese enterprises. Therefore, both sides should discuss and share information to develop the auto and auto parts sectors, he said.

In addition, Viet Nam and Thailand has different auto industry policies, so both sides should cooperate rather than compete, he added.

He said his institute – whose vision is to be an organisation of automotive knowledge and expertise -- would join hands with Reed Tradex to organise an "Automotive Summit" on the sidelines of the 2015 Manufacturing Expo to be held in Bangkok from June 24 to 27 to provide information about likely future global industry trends.

Chanapa Lertrungrueng, project manger of Reed Tradex Co., Ltd, said Manufacturing Expo, Southeast Asia's largest manufacturing and supporting industry show, would provide Vietnamese firms with the chance to find out about the latest machinery and technologies and explore new opportunities.

The expo would offer a full spectrum of manufacturing machinery, the widest array of automation technology, mould-making technology, electronic manufacturing technology and surface and coatings solutions from 1,600 brands from 46 countries, she said.

More than 52,000 visitors were expected, she added. — VNS