China-based JA Solar, among the biggest solar energy cell firms in the world, earned a revenue of $2.8 billion from its activities in Vietnam in 2023, and expects to double that figure in 2024.
The firm reported the performance to National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue during the top legislator’s Thursday visit to the firm’s factories in the northern province of Bac Giang. JA Solar plans to make further investments in Vietnam to improve its solar cell supply chain in the country, it added.
On average, each of the firm’s 4,000 workers, mostly local citizens, earn VND14-15 million ($611) per month, the firm noted. The figure is twice the country’s average of VND7.1 million ($289), according to the General Statistics Office.
For his part, Vuong Dinh Hue lauded the performance of the firm, which started investing in Vietnam in 2016 and has so far poured $967 million into three projects in Bac Giang. A focus of the National Assembly in 2024 is to simplify administrative procedures to further facilitate the people and businesses, he said.
Hue called on JA Solar to expand its operation, increase output, and build an ecosystem with the participation of many Vietnamese companies. He requested Bac Giang authorities to invest more in infrastructure to attract more investments.
In November 2023, JA Solar received approval to invest an additional $378 million in an ongoing project in Bac Giang. The Bac Giang Industrial Zones Authority said the registered capital will be added to JA Solar’s project to manufacture silicon panels, silicon bars, and high-performance solar cells. The project is located in Viet Han Industrial Park, Viet Yen district, covering 21.9 hectares.
JA Solar’s other investments in Bac Giang province are located in Quang Chau Industrial Park, covering 88 hectares, with about 3,000 employees manufacturing solar energy batteries and modules.