Hai Phong (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phucexpressed his hope that Vingroup conglomerate will contribute to thedevelopment of the domestic automobile sector with the establishment of its VinFastautomobile and electric motorbike manufacturing complex.

During his field trip to the complex located at the DinhVu-Cat Hai industrial park in the northern port city of Hai Phong on May 13,the PM said Vingroup’s auto production will help build a self-control economyfor the country.

Building a self-control economy is an important orientationset by the Party and the State, the leader stressed, saying he hopes thatVingroup will reap successes in this field as the conglomerate is on a righttrack.

He lauded the group for breakthroughs it has made during theimplementation of the project.

Vingroup is expected to make public the first electronicmotorbikes in September 2018. Meanwhile, its SUV and Sedan automobiles arescheduled to be introduced to the market in the second quarter of 2019. VinFastis expected to heat up the local market with electronic automobiles in the endof 2019.  

PM Phuc also applauded VinFast’s efforts to build anecological system for the domestic auto manufacturing sector by zoning off 70hectares of land for a support industry area to attract factories specialisingin producing spare parts, as well as its contributions to training Vietnameseworkers.

Eight companies have signed contracts with VinFast to set upfactories in the area, with four of them invested by VinFast.

Covering a total area of 335ha, VinFast is projected to beput into operation in June 2018. VinFast has negotiated and signed agreementswith the world’s leading companies to provide it with production lines, equipmentand machines.

Also on May 13, PM Phuc visited theconstruction site of Aeon Mall in Le Chan district of Hai Phong. Covering about93,000 sq.m, the project is expected to be opened in 2020 and attract more than13 visitors each year from Hai Phong and nearly Quang Ninh, Hai Duong and ThaiBinh provinces.

This is the sixth Aeon Mall in Vietnam and thethird of its kind in the northern region.

The same day, the Government leader alsoattended the inauguration of the Hai Phong International Container Terminal(HICT), a joint venture of the Saigon NewPort Corporation, the Mitsui O.S.K.Lines Co. Ltd of Japan, the Wan Hai Lines company of Taiwan (China), and ItochuCorporation of Japan.

HICT, located in Cat Hai town of Cat Haidistrict, is the first deep-water port in the northern key economic region ofVietnam. It is able to accommodate container ships of 14,000 TEUs and generalcargo ships of 160,000 DWT, helping export-import goods of the northern regionbe directly shipped to Europe or America by parent vessels instead of beingtransited in another port like in the past.

The terminal is set to handle goods equivalent to1.1 million TEUs each year.-VNA