Thaco’s annual general meeting approves its business strategy for 2019-21 and votes in a board of directors. — Photo courtesy of Thaco

HCM CITY — Trường Hải Auto Corporation (Thaco) is set to become Thaco Group, a holding company with stakes in five member companies operating in a wide range of sectors, after shareholders approved the proposal at its annual general meeting held recently in HCM City.

One corporation is in machinery and automobile production, two in agriculture and forestry, transport infrastructure, industrial parks and urban areas and two others in commerce and logistics.

Thaco chairman Trần Bá Dương said the automobile corporation would manufacture a range of vehicles including passenger cars, buses, trucks, and specialised vehicles in a range of price segments and have a presence in the entire value chain from research and development and manufacturing to distribution and retail.

In the mechanical engineering industry, it would focus on agriculture, construction and industrial equipment engineering to support its main business areas, he said.

In agriculture and forestry, he said after Thaco and Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) Group announced a strategic partnership last August, Thaco set up THADI Indochina Agriculture Processing and Distribution JSC with a charter capital of VNĐ2.1 trillion (US$89.7 million), with Thaco owning a 70 per cent stake, to invest in fruit trees, cereals, forestry, agricultural materials, and animal husbandry.

In March this year THADI signed a strategic agreement with Hoang Anh Gia Lai Agricultural Company, a subsidiary of HAGL, to grow fruit trees in Việt Nam, Laos and Cambodia, export fruits to affluent markets and offer import-export and logistics services.

THADI will develop farms in Cambodia to grow fruit trees, using appropriate machinery and technologies to ensure the fruits meet quality standards in developed markets.

Thaco will also invest in a research and development centre for seeds, agricultural materials, bio-technology, organic cultivation, harvesting, preservation and processing techniques, develop experimental farms, set up a fruit processing plant at the Chu Lai Agro-Forestry Industrial Park, and export fresh fruits to China, South Korea, Japan, the Middle East, and the EU.

In construction, Thaco plans to develop transport infrastructure under public-private-partnerships and invest in environment-friendly industrial parks.

In 2019-21 Thaco will develop new urban areas in major cities and trade centres that combine car showrooms, office space for rent, hotels, and high-class apartments.

In the commercial sector, Dương said the firm’s commercial business activities would be based on its system of trade centres combined with car showrooms, under the ‘One stop, multiple services’ model including a car showroom on the ground floor, supermarkets, food courts, retail stores, entertainment centres, convention centres, and others.

Thaco is expected to launch its Socar Sala commercial centre in HCM City’s District 2 in the fourth quarter of this year. It will have a supermarket, a food court, a convention centre, entertainment facilities, and cinemas.

He said Thaco would develop logistics into a business line not only to serve its main business sectors including auto and agriculture logistics such as transporting fruits by specialised refrigerated vehicles and trading logistics but also offer logistics services to external customers.

It will develop Chu Lai port into a logistics hub of the central and Central Highlands regions with services such as port, maritime shipping, trucking, warehouses, and cold storages and exploit goods transport opportunities from Korea, Japan and China to Chu Lai.

It continues to develop the port so that it can handle 50,000DWT vessels, upgrade infrastructure and enhance the use of information technology in managing its logistics services.

At the AGM, Thaco announced targets of consolidated net profit of more than VNĐ6.2 trillion ($265 million) this year on revenues of over VNĐ79.7 trillion ($3.4 billion), a year-on-year increase of 3 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively.

In the first quarter it reported over VNĐ14.8 trillion in revenues and VNĐ964 billion in profits.

The AGM also voted in an 11-member board of directors for 2019-21. — VNS