Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is studying the feasibility of setting up a production facility in Vietnam to produce TV screens, the Saigon Times reported.
In a report published on Monday, the Vietnamese newspaper said Hon Hai is mulling a plan to build a TV screen assembly plant in Quang Ninh Province in northern Vietnam.
Hon Hai, known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) globally, is expected to invest US$40 million in the initial phase of the new TV screen plant, to be built in the Dong Mai Industrial Park in Quang Yen Town, the report said.
The report cited Foxconn Vietnam general director Harry Zhuo (卓憲宏) as saying that the initial phase of the project would create about 3,000 jobs.
Zhuo, who has discussed the investment plan with Vietnamese government officials, said the project would pave the way for Hon Hai to expand its reach in Vietnam by enabling it to invest in more sectors, the report said.
Quang Ninh Province Vice Chairman Nguyen Van Thang has promised to create favorable conditions for Hon Hai to complete the investment process as quickly as possible and recruit a sufficient number of workers for the plant’s construction and operations, the report added.
Hon Hai, an iPhone assembler, has had factories in Bac Ninh and Bac Giang, and other facilities in Vietnam since March 2007. The plant in Bac Giang has been listed as one of factories used to supply products to Apple Inc.
In addition, FIT Hon Teng Ltd (鴻騰精密), a Hong Kong-listed subsidiary of Hon Hai, announced that it would spend about NT$4 billion (US$129 million) to invest in Vietnam’s New Wing Interconnect in a bid to expand its production in Bac Giang.
FIT Hon Teng has operations in Taiwan, Mexico, and China’s Jiangsu, Guangdong, Henan, Shandong and Chongqing. It specializes in optoelectronics development, and has also entered the mobile communications and healthcare arenas.
Amid the ongoing trade dispute between the US and China, Hon Hai, which operates huge production bases in China with a workforce of 1 million, has watched the situation closely to determine how to respond.
It has also had to recalibrate its management after Hon Hai founder and former chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) in April announced his intention to go into politics and pursue the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) nomination in next year’s presidential election.
Gou stepped down as chairman after a board meeting last week elected Young Liu (劉揚偉) to succeed him. Liu is scheduled to take the helm on Monday next week.
Hon Hai has set up a nine-member operations committee to monitor the global market.
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