Mr Shinichi Wakita, General Director of Panasonic Vietnam.
▪ VET15:17 (GMT+7) - Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Mr Shinichi Wakita, General Director of Panasonic Vietnam, tells why it continues with its expansion plans in Vietnam at this time
Mr Shinichi Wakita, General Director of Panasonic Vietnam, tells why it continues with its expansion plans in Vietnam at this time.
What are Panasonic's plans in Vietnam for the years to come?
As part of our global policy and strategy, in Quarter III, 2011, Panasonic has made several strategic steps into Vietnam to expand its investment in this market with rich potential. First of all, Panasonic plans to build a new electronic components plant at the Thang Long Industrial Park in Hanoi to introduce new ALIVH multi-layer resin boards to meet the rapidly growing smart phone demand. The plant will begin production in August 2012 and have a capacity of 3.5 million units per month.
We have also decided to expand our refrigerator assembly line at the Thang Long Industrial Park, which was built in 2003. As scheduled, by 2015 production is expected to be twice the volume of 2011 (400,000 products per year, reaching 800,000 products per year), with an emphasis on creating local components and assembling high quality Panasonic refrigerators to meet local demand and for export.
Next year Panasonic will open its new washing machine factory at the Thang Long Industrial Park 2 in Hung Yen province. With large-scale production, the target is 700,000 units per year by 2015.
After that, a home appliances research and development centre will be opened in the same location to develop suitable products for Vietnamese consumers. After coming into operation, the factory and R&D centre are expected to provide over 1,000 jobs to local people.
This new phase of expansion reaffirms the long-term commitment of the Global Panasonic Group to Vietnam, aiming to become the leading brand name in the two abovementioned sections and the leading brand name in electronics and home appliances in Vietnam, with annual double-digit growth from 2011-2015. Initially, the target for sales in 2011 is $1 billion.
How much investment capital will be poured into the expansion?
We will invest an additional $84 million over a couple of years in Vietnam, bringing our total investment capital in the emerging market to $224 million.
Many Japanese firms have focused on production in Vietnam but the new trend is to open retail outlets to sell products made elsewhere. So why does Panasonic continue to expand its investment in Vietnam at this time?
The expansion of the retail market in Vietnam provides opportunities for manufacturers as well. We believe it is not enough to satisfy the needs of the market by simply selling imported products. It is necessary to research market needs and meet demand, as well as to enhance our brand value in Vietnam.
With the new expansion phase, Panasonic aims to become the leading brand name in electronics and home appliances.
What challenges face Panasonic on the way to reaching this target?
The challenges facing Panasonic include becoming a "green innovation" company. We not only produce and sell electronics and home appliances; we also focus on eco-products to protect the environment and bring a green lifestyle to each house and building. We believe that this will help Panasonic become the leading brand name.
What are the important factors that Japanese investors like Panasonic consider when deciding to invest in Vietnam?
It is for the Vietnamese Government to focus on more industrial-oriented policies to be competitive globally. In order to develop the country, the foundation for competitive industrial infrastructure could lead to further investment in the manufacturing industry, and strengthen the competitiveness of human resources and industrialisation.
However, it has been very disappointing for us that recent policies for the manufacturing industry have removed almost of incentives. As a result, many enterprises of all sizes are becoming reluctant to invest in Vietnam. We believe that not only are incentives important but also effective custom procedures, infrastructure such as electricity supply and improvements in logistics within the industrial infrastructure environment.
What concerns do you have for Panasonic's investment in Vietnam?
What concerns us is that old-fashioned and complicated regulations in foreign exchange and licensing have seen few improvements, and there are few incentives for manufacturing investment in high-tech products, although we do try to invest further to contribute to the development of the country and the industry.
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