Malaysia seeks business opportunities in Vietnam’s automobile industry

Illustrative image (Source: VNA)

According to the ambassador, the presence of Vietnamese automaker VinFast has made the country’s automobile industry more attractive, creating opportunities for foreign manufacturers and component suppliers to discover the Vietnamese market.

He said that 15 Malaysian enterprises operating in the field attended the workshop to seek cooperation opportunities with Vietnamese partners.

Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Hoang Quang Phong expressed his belief that the two countries’ businesses should take advantage of development opportunities and exchange experience in automobile component manufacturing, which is one of Malaysia’s areas of expertise. 

Implementing the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), Vietnam will become a promising destination for the automobile industry of other nations, including Malaysia, Phong added.

Luong Duc Toan, from the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Department of Legal Affairs, stated that each year Vietnam imports over 3 billion USD worth of components and spare parts serving automobile assembly and repairs.

Currently, the localisation rate of the Vietnamese automobile industry remains low. Therefore, if manufacturers do not take measures to increase localisation, they will face difficulties while competing with those in other countries, Toan said.

According to Toan, there are more than 40 enterprises in Vietnam participating in automobile production and assembly, but most only work on small and medium scales, with a total capacity of about 800,000 units a year.

He suggested developing the automobile industry and the supporting industry serving it, as well as stepping up domestic production and assembly.