HÀ NỘI — An Cường Wood Working Joint Stock Company has announced its strategic investment partnership with Japan’s Sumitomo Forestry Co Ltd.

An Cường Wood Working Joint Stock Company is one of Việt Nam’s leading woodwork and decorative materials companies. This alliance will help enhance co-operation and direct the expansion of business activities for both companies.

According to the agreement, the strategic alliance is designed to build a supply chain in the Việt Nam market spanning across material procurement in housing construction, exercising synergy in each field and accelerating the growth of each business, importing and selling high quality Japanese building materials to Việt Nam by leveraging An Cường’s sales network and the Sumitomo Forestry Group’s distribution network to expand the sales of An Cường’s products to overseas markets, including Japan.

Lê Đức Nghĩa, CEO of An Cường, said with more than 200 years of experience and annual sales of more than US$10 billion, together with modern management technology and a strong international position, Sumitomo Forestry will provide An Cường with a number of advantages upon becoming its official shareholder.

An Cường can rely on the distribution network of Sumitomo Forestry to promote the firm’s business in foreign markets, including Japan and the United States.

Sumitomo Forestry will send leading experts from Japan to help An Cường’s manufacturing factory meet international standards for exporting products to the housing development system in Japan and the United States.

The Japanese firm will help An Cường build a supply chain in the Việt Nam market spanning across materials used in housing construction, ranging from wood core to all types of industrial wood surfaces and to meet international standards in order to benefit all customers in the Vietnamese market, as well as the customer system of Sumitomo Forestry worldwide.

Masami Kitahashi, CEO of Sumitomo Forestry in Việt Nam, highly appreciated the ability of An Cường in operating its business in accordance with international standards.

One of the reasons for partnering with Sumitomo Forestry is that An Cường has a transparent management system that uses the advanced SAP ERP management system from early 2017, and is using a number of German and Italian furniture production software, Masami added.

Established in 1994, An Cường manufactures a wide range of products, including wood and laminate panelling, flooring and furniture. The company is a manufacturer for well-known brands in Japan, Southeast Asia, the United States and Europe. — VNS