Far Eastern plan to expand its production base in Vietnam investing NT$10 bn

Far Eastern New Century Corp., a Taiwanese conglomerate involved in production and finishing of synthetic fibres and other textiles. It has factories in China, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. The company in an annual general meeting held on Friday has decided to transform the Southeast Asian country into the company’s third production base after Taiwan and China for which they are planning to invest NT$10 billion (US$323 million) in Vietnam.

Far Eastern Vice Chairman Johnny Shih said that the company has been running a factory in Tinh Binh Duong since 2007, and will expand its production base in Vietnam to build a large-scale, all-in-one facility there, covering upstream, middle stream and downstream textile products.

Shih said that the company will send representatives to Tinh Binh Duong, a province located in southern Vietnam immediately to the north of Ho Chi Minh City, to sign an agreement to purchase a piece of land in an industrial park for the construction of a new facility.

The new investment project in Vietnam is positioned to help Far Eastern seize business opportunities expected to arise from the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade bloc.

In the first stage of the investment process, the Company will roll out yarn products, and then the new facility will enter dyeing services and finally produce ready to wear garments. The executive said that the investment will guarantee Far Eastern’s ambitions to build a world-class production base in Vietnam.

In addition to the planned NT$10 billion investments in Vietnam, Far Eastern Chairman Douglas Hsu told shareholders that his company will continue to invest in Taiwan and China with an additional NT$10 billion in funds.

Although Far Eastern has invested a large sum of funds overseas, the company is determined to stay in Taiwan instead of moving abroad since the textile maker is rooted in the country. The investments in China and Vietnam have been made and planned simply based on consideration of where its buyers are.

In the first quarter of this year, Far Eastern recorded NT$2.6 billion in net profit, up 45 percent from a year earlier. Far Eastern will focus on a wide range of products, including polyester cotton, polyester chips, and nylon.