Foxconn eyes expansion in Vietnam, to invest $700 mln this year

The company, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., also targets revenues of $10 billion and creating 10,000 new jobs this year, Taiwan News reported.

Last year, the company had invested $1.5 billion in Vietnam, $900 million of it in the northern province of Bac Giang.

In January, it received a license to build a $270-million plant to produce laptops and tablets in Bac Giang. The factory will eventually produce eight million computers a year, including iPads and MacBooks, apparently an outcome of Apple’s desire that its suppliers should move their production out of China.

Foxconn executives also met with authorities in the northern province of Thanh Hoa in January to explore investment opportunities. It is looking for 100-150 hectares of land for a $1.3-billion plant to manufacture electronic components.

Its revenues last year were $6 billion, and Apple’s main supplier and the world's largest contract manufacturer targets reaching $40 billion within the next three to five years.

It has been operating mainly in the north in the provinces of Bac Ninh, Bac Giang and Vinh Phuc, making computers and other electronic products and car parts.

Vietnam is its largest manufacturing hub in Southeast Asia.