Panasonic washing machine factory operational in Vietnam

This is PAPVN’s second factory in Vietnam after they established a fridge factory in Hanoi’s Thang Long Industrial Park in 2003, with a capacity of producing 800,000 units per year.

With an estimated investment of US$32 million wholly funded by the Japanese corporation, the latest factory was built on an area of 52,000 square metres, with a total capacity of producing 600,000 washing machines per year.

Addressing the March 20 inauguration ceremony, PAPVN Director General Mitsuhiko Nakamura said that the factory is expected to supply 50 percent of its product to the domestic market, with the remainder to be exported to other Southeast Asian markets. The first batch of PAPVN washing machines will be shipped abroad next month, he added.

The factory is generating 300 jobs for local workers from now until 2014.

A Panasonic representative said that its Vietnamese factories have a localisation ratio of 30 percent in terms of product value. The figure will increase to 50 percent in the near future.