HAI PHONG — Bridgestone Tyre Manufacturing Viet Nam Limited Liability Co (BTMV) yesterday started work on a car tyre plant in the Dinh Vu Industrial Zone in northern Hai Phong City.

The investment of US$575 million by Bridgestone Corporation, Japan, is the largest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) project in the manufacturing industry so far this year, as well as the biggest FDI project in Hai Phong City.

The factory, being built on more than 102ha, will begin operations in 2014. When work on the first half is completed two years later, production is expected to hit 24,700 tyres a day and have 1,900 employees.

The plant, Bridgestone's 50th plant around the world, will produce radial tyres. It will serve as an export base for the EU, North America and Japan.

Chief Operating Officer for Bridgestone, Kazuhisa Nishigai, said the company made a comprehensive evaluation of infrastructure, location, workforce, costs and growth prospects before choosing Viet Nam.

At the ground breaking ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai praised Hai Phong City's efforts in attracting more than $962 million in FDI in the first half of this year, making it the second most attractive city to foreign investors nationwide.

He said the project was meaningful to both Hai Phong's economic development and the growth of Viet Nam's support industry. He encouraged investors to apply the latest eco-friendly technology to the project.

BTMV is the fifth Japanese investor in the Dinh Vu IZ. — VNS