PHA Vietnam Company Limited, YMP Plus Company Limited, Dong Yang Vina Industry Company Limited and MiChang Vietnam Company Limited started construction of their plants in DEEP C 2A Industrial Zone in the northern port city of Hai Phong on Friday.

The group, led by PHA Vietnam which is invested by South Korean Pyeong Hwa Automotive Company Ltd, will four build automotive part manufacturing plants on a total area of 11.4ha, pouring US$32.3 million of capital into DEEP C Industrial Zones.

Accordingly, the Pyeong Hwa Automotive Company Ltd will produce hood latches, door checkers, hood hinges and fuel filler openers with a capacity of more than 7.5 million products per year, equivalent to 1,115 tonnes per year. The $16.7 million project covers an area of 7ha.

The YMP Plus Company Limited will produce door latch parts, hood latch parts and trunk lid parts with an annual capacity of 24.6 million products. The project has a total investment of $8.2 million and covers an area of 1.7ha.

The Dong Yang Vina Industry Company Limited will produce 24.6 million door latch springs and door latch rods per year. The $3.3 million project will be built on an area of 1ha.

The $4.1 million plant of MiChang Vietnam Company Limited, covering an area of 1.7ha, will produce 480 tonnes of door latches, seat cables and hood cables a year.

PHA was the pioneer for the group’s expansion to Viet Nam. With a view to establishing a new and competitive manufacturing base serving worldwide export, PHA decided to choose the prime location of DEEP C, next to the biggest deep-sea port of the north.

Once in operation from September 2019, the end-product will serve big car manufacturers such as Volkswagen, BMW, Audi, GM, Ford and Hyundai.

This is part of the new South Korean investment wave into DEEP C IZs, which has total 12 projects of over $97 million in capital.

Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, Lee Jae Seung, PHA’s CEO, said the plants in Viet Nam would use the accumulated experience of PHA’s factories worldwide.

They therefore will provide the best products and services to the market thanks to the wonderful infrastructure in Viet Nam, an abundant labour force and experience from PHA. This will also help Viet Nam become a key country in the automotive industry in Asia in the future, he said.

Nguyen Xuan Binh, vice chairman of Hai Phong City People’s Committee, said the city committed to facilitating businesses’ operation in DEEP C IZs.

“Hai Phong continued to be one of the most attractive destinations for foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country,” Binh said. “In the first 10 months of the year, the city attracted $2.4 billion of FDI, double than its targets from earlier this year.”

He said the city would continue to improve its business environment to create favourable conditions for investors.

Bruno Jaspaert, DEEP C IZs’ general director, said their vision was to develop DEEP C IZs into a production and logistics centre not only for the northern region but also the country with its experienced workers and high-quality infrastructure.

“We planned to divide DEEP C IZs into different IZ clusters including automotive, petrochemicals, logistics and support industries,” he said. “We expected the plan would help diversify industrial sectors of Hai Phong, creating supply chains and increasing the localisation rate.”

He added this could also help labourers in the city in particular and in the north in general have opportunities to access new technologies through training courses in foreign-invested companies.

“We hope Hai Phong would not only become a green city but also a sustainable and diversified technology centre in Viet Nam. The participation of PHA and its partners would surely help the vision come true sooner.”

Upon completion of these facilities, investors in DEEP C IZs will be enjoying one of the most comprehensive and competitive service packages in Viet Nam. — VNS