Foxconn plans to splash out over $325mn on affordable housing for workers in Vietnam
Tuesday, June 30, 2020, 17:00 GMT+7
Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group is waiting for authorities’ approval for its plan to spend more than US$325 million implementing three social housing projects for its workers in Vietnam.
The projects will be developed in Bac Giang, Bac Ninh, and Vinh Phuc, all located in the northern region of the Southeast Asian country, according to Foxconn’s proposal submitted to the Government Office, the Ministry of Construction, and the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
The majority of workers long for housing but they cannot afford it, Foxconn said, explaining why it seeks permission to build affordable houses.
Foxconn is better known as an Apple parts maker which has 800 subsidiaries and branches in many countries around the world.
Its revenue topped $220 billion last year, ranking 24th among the world’s 500 largest corporations according to Fortune magazine.
The Taiwanese group registered a small investment in Bac Ninh, Bac Giang, and Vinh Phuc in 2007 before expanding to Quang Ninh Province, also in northern Vietnam, in 2019. It decided to make a large-scale investment in Bac Giang the same year.
Foxconn’s factories in Vietnam raked in around $3 billion in exports in 2019, which is projected to rise to $6 billion this year.
The electronic components manufacturer employs 50,000 workers in Vietnam and pays them a monthly average of VND10-12 million ($429-515) each.
Its number of employees is forecast to rapidly increase soon amid a trend to shift production to Vietnam from China post-COVID-19.
Vietnam has kept the coronavirus under control, having reported 355 cases, 335 recoveries, and zero deaths.
Through its subsidiaries, Foxconn wants to implement the three projects to accommodate its workers in Que Vo District, Bac Ninh; in Viet Yen District, Bac Giang; and in Binh Xuyen District, Vinh Phuc.
It is projected to cost Foxconn more than $325 million to develop the social housing units in the three locales, where its subsidiaries have investments in local industrial parks.
Foxconn is also asking for the Vietnamese government’s permission to build a 600ha industrial park in Bac Giang in order to move production to Vietnam, said Duong Van Thai, chairman of the provincial People’s Committee.
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