Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc visits Trường Hải Auto JSC’s (Thaco’s) Thaco Mazda automobile manufacturing plant during its inauguration ceremony held in the central province of Quảng Nam on March 25. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất |
QUẢNG NAM — Trường Hải Auto JSC (Thaco) inaugurated the Thaco Mazda automobile manufacturing plant, the biggest and most modern Mazda factory in Southeast Asia, in the central province of Quảng Nam on March 25 in the presence of Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc.
National Assembly Vice Chairman Uông Chu Lưu, Special Adviser to the Japanese Cabinet Isao Iijima, and leaders of a number of ministries, agencies and localities also attended the event.
PM Phúc okayed the construction of the VNĐ12 trillion (US$528 million) plant at an investment promotion conference in Quảng Nam Province in 2017.
After a year, the first phase of the project has been completed with half of the designed capacity of 100,000 units per year.
Covering 30.3ha in Chu Lai Open Economic Zone, the plant is equipped with cutting-edge technology, meeting the global standards of Japan’s Mazda Group.
Also on March 25, Thaco inaugurated an international shipping route linking Chu Lai and Japan, and welcomed the first vessel transporting automobile spare parts and equipment from Japan’s Hiroshima prefecture to Chu Lai Port to serve the new factory.
Trần Bá Dương, Thaco chairman, said the group plans to build another wharf and has invested VNĐ600 billion in expanding the arterial road from the Chu Lai Port to Đà Nẵng-Quảng Ngãi Expressway, and building a double-decker roundabout interchange between National Highway 1A, the North-South railway and the arterial road.
PM Phúc lauded cooperation between Mazda and Thaco over the years, saying the collaboration has contributed to the Việt Nam-Japan relationship.
Việt Nam encourages the development of the auto industry, he said, adding that the Government will devise policies to ensure equality between locally-made automobiles and imported ones.
The leader asked Thaco to operate the plant effectively and safely, meeting demands of both domestic and foreign markets.
He also called on Japan’s Mazda Group to continue transfer technologies to Thaco, especially the production of components, and support the company in completing the second phase of the project. — VNS