Hong Kong aviation firm Haeco eyes northern Vietnam investment

Hong Kong-based aviation firm Haeco Group plans to invest in a host of facilities including a cargo terminal and aircraft repair hangar in the northern province of Quang Ninh.

The firm’s CEO Richard Sell revealed the plans Wednesday during a meeting with acting Quang Ninh Chairman Cao Tuong Huy.

Sell urged local authorities to assist the firm in carrying out surveys and studies for investments in aviation related facilities.

Welcoming the proposal, Huy noted that Quang Ninh was home to the Van Don airport, but the province's aviation logistics infrastructure was still underdeveloped despite being a prioritized sector.

The province will call on Sun Group, a major private firm in Vietnam and investor of the Van Don airport, to cooperate with Haeco in its investments, Huy said.

He said the province would offer maximum help with the completion of procedures, location and workforce selection as well as other tasks to facilitate the investment.

Quang Ninh, the most competitive province in Vietnam in terms of business environment, according to the annual Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI), attracted FDI of $816.6 in the year to September 20, the ninth-highest among all localities in the country. So far, the province has attracted $9.64 billion of FDI in 173 valid projects.

In April, Haeco had expressed its willingness to invest $100 million in the first phase of an aircraft service project in the southern province of Dong Nai, with about 1,000 employees. In the second phase, the firm aims to expand the workforce to 4,000 people, while cooperating with local firms in training laborers for airport services, former Haeco CEO Frank Walshot had said.

The firm had also announced plans to invest in projects related to the Long Thanh International Airport being built in the province, like aircraft repair and maintenance.