Germany’s Magnetec launches production plant in Vietnam

Magnetec GmbH, a German provider of system solutions for the innovative sectors of automotive, energy, industry, and safety, opened its first factory in Vietnam on Wednesday.

The 3,700-square meter production site is located in Nam Dinh Vu Industrial Park in Hai Phong city, which is northern Vietnam’s logistics hub, and together with Hanoi and Quang Ninh province make up the Hanoi-Hai Phong-Quang Ninh development triangle.

Do Dang Khoa, the plant manager at Magnetec Vietnam Co. Ltd., told The Investor the initial investment for the facility is $7.3 million but Magnetec GmbH has plans to increase it. The plant is employing almost 100 people but the number is expected to double by the end of next year, he said.

The Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Vietnam, or AHK Vietnam, had earlier supported Magnetec with location analysis. Therefore, Björn Koslowski, deputy chief representative of AHK Vietnam, joined the factory opening in Hai Phong.

Magnetec has its production facilities in China, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, and Vietnam, according to its website.

Last Friday, Germany’s Pepperl+Fuchs, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of electronic sensors and components, inaugurated a sustainable manufacturing facility in Vietnam, which has been financed with a $15 million green loan from Deutsche Bank. In the country, Pepperl+Fuchs is also an AHK Vietnam partner, and the new plant is the German firm’s second factory. Both are located in Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone.

About 500 German firms operate in Vietnam, of which around 80 have manufacturing plants in the country, according to AHK Vietnam. Among them are engineering giant Bosch, energy firms PNE AG and Messer, and many other companies involved in the global automotive supply chain.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, during his Vietnam visit on November 13, 2022, discussed energy and trade ties with Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in the context multinationals were looking to diversify some of their production activities away from China amid the “China plus one” trend.

This January, the central province of Binh Dinh has proposed the Vietnamese government add a $4.6-billion offshore wind power project planned by PNE AG to the country’s draft national power development plan VIII (PDP VIII).