According to the Kinh Bac Urban Development Corporation (KBC), on August 15, its subsidiary Saigon - Bac Giang Industrial Park Joint Stock Company signed a memorandum of understanding with the Foxconn Group on the sub-lease of 50.5 hectares of land in Quang Chau Industrial Park in Bac Giang province.

Foxconn Group plans to invest more than 300 million USD in this new project and employ over 30,000 local workers.

Foxconn is one of the world's largest corporations in the fields of electronics, information technology and computers. In Quang Chau Industrial Park, Foxconn is the largest FDI enterprise with projects since 2019. Currently, the group's total leased land area is up to 69.82 hectares and total registered investment capital 773 million USD.

Earlier last year, Foxconn said it would invest an additional $700 million in Vietnam, expecting to earn $10 billion in revenue in the next few years. The corporation is known as "Apple's iPhone assembly factory".

Information that Foxconn leased more than 50 hectares of land in KBC's industrial park was released at the same time as information that Apple would bring Apple Watch and MacBook production to Vietnam for the first time.

According to Nikkei Asia, Apple is in negotiation to produce Apple Watch and Macbook in Vietnam. Luxshare Precision Industry and Foxconn have trialled Apple Watch production in the North of Vietnam.

Besides China, Vietnam has become Apple's most important manufacturing hub, with many key products such as iPad tablets and AirPods headphones.

The production of the Apple Watch is much more complicated and requires a lot of small accessories and a high level of technology and engineering. This will help further enhance Vietnam's technology manufacturing sector.

Apple also continued to move iPad production to Vietnam after the Covid lockdown in Shanghai caused supply disruptions.

AirPods have been produced in Vietnam since 2020. This is one of the first products Apple moved assembly out of China after the trade war between China and the US broke out under former US President Donald Trump.

The move signals a change of approach for Apple. The American tech giant has been dependent on China for most of its manufacturing activities for decades.

According to Nikkei Asia, the number of suppliers for Apple which have factories in Vietnam has increased from 14 in 2018 to at least 22 at present. Many other major electronics manufacturers such as Google, Dell and Amazon have also set up manufacturing operations in Vietnam to diversify their operations beyond China.

Manh Ha