Mitsubishi Heavy to produce aviation components in Vietnam

Tokyo: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (MHI) will set up a subsidiary in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi, as early as January 2008 which will produce commercial aircraft components, the company said Tuesday.

The wholly owned MHI Aerospace Vietnam Co would start manufacturing flaps for Boeing 737 aircraft from the spring of 2009.

Capitalized at $7 million, the new company would initially hire 50 employees with plans to expand up to 200 in response to market demands.

Initially, Mitsubishi would start operations by procuring parts from Japan, China and Malaysia and only increase procurement in Vietnam as and when industrial infrastructure in the country develops further, the company said.

According to Mitsubishi Heavy it will now become the first company to operate an aviation production facility in Southeast Asia.