Pandora, the world’s largest jewelry brand by revenue, will invest $100 million in building a new facility in Vietnam, which will be the Danish company’s third manufacturing site and first outside Thailand.
“We scouted countries all over the world before deciding on Vietnam and Binh Duong province. The country has a rich craftmanship history, and we will be able to access a large group of craftspeople,” said Jeerasage Puranasamriddhi, Pandora’s chief supply officer.
“Binh Duong and VSIP industrial park provide great infrastructure, and we are very grateful for the support we have received from the local authorities and VSIP team. Expanding our production capacity is critical to meet expected demand, and we are ready and excited for our new chapter here,” he added.
Denmark’s Ambassador to Vietnam, Kim Højlund Christensen, said, “Vietnam has become an attractive destination for Danish companies, not least due to its green transformation of the economy, and we are happy to see Pandora making this important investment decision in the country.
“We hope that the establishment of Pandora’s first crafting facility here will contribute to further expanding and intensifying our close cooperation with Vietnam,” he said.
Toymaker Lego, another Danish company, is investing more than $1 billion to build a smart facility in the VSIP 3 in Binh Duong, southern Vietnam.
Pandora was set to start construction of its new facility in early 2023, with production due to start by the end of 2024.
The jewelry company said the new facility would be built according to the LEED Gold standard, a leading green building certification, and be powered by 100% renewable energy. It will create jobs for more than 6,000 crafts people and have an annual capacity of 60 million pieces of jewelry.
The Copenhagen-headquartered major added it would also expand its current site in Lamphun, Thailand, bringing the total investment there to $160 million over the next four years. This will allow Pandora to grow its total crafting capacity by around 60% and support the company’s long-term growth ambitions.
Pandora said that in 2021 it sold 102 million pieces of jewelry, hand-finished at the company’s two crafting facilities in Thailand. Both facilities operate on 100% renewable energy and are on track to use only recycled silver and gold by 2025.
Pandora is listed on the Nasdaq Copenhagen stock exchange and generated sales of EUR 3.1 billion (more than $3.22 billion) in 2021.