Nokia enters Bac Ninh province with “special incentives”

Nokia, the global well-known technology group, signed a deal to rent land in Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park Bac Ninh (VSIP Bac Ninh) to build a plant after reaching an agreement with Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) in February, even though an official investment certificate has not been granted, the state-newspaper Thoi Bao Kinh Te Viet Nam reported on April 14.

The sign showed that the construction project would be implemented quickly, according to the commitment of Esko Aho- Executive Vice President of Nokia at the signing ceremony attended by MPI. A source of Thoi Bao Kinh Te Viet Nam said that the certificate might be granted within this year, kicking-off would be conducted afterwards.

In order to attract Nokia, Bac Ninh municipal governance has offered special incentives for the group, such as supporting for a 17.25-ha land cost which Nokia re-rent from VSIP Bac Ninh Co Ltd throughout the lifetime of operation of that to-be-constructed plant.

Other incentives for Nokia in VSIP Bac Ninh are still under consideration of the government and MPI.

Nokia said in a statement that the project would be kicked off from early Q3 of 2011 and started in initial production by Q1 of 2012 and in full operation by Q2 of 2014. From Q2 this year, the group will start recruitment requiring 10,000 staff for the project.

As designed, Nokia will build a 200 million-euro cell phone producing plant, marking the 11th mobile phone factory of the group in the world, after 10 ones in 9 countries.

“Vietnam emerges as a country with advantageous geography and fast-growing infrastructure, suitable for Nokia”, Esko Aho said.

The group has a system of global plant network from America Latin (Brazil and Mexico) to Europe (Hungary, Romania, Netherlands and UK), and Asia (India, China and South Korea).

Nokia’s project in Vietnam has attracted much attention of international media. The Economic Times said the project indicated that “Vietnam and Southeastern Asia are emerging as one of production centers in replacement of China”. The magazine also compared the importance of this project with Intel Group’s previous project.

Reuters quoted Matthias Duhn-Managing Director of EuroCham in Vietnam as saying that the project was a big signal from European investors and 200 million euro is a significant investment at this time. – Vietbiz24

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