US President Joe Biden yesterday announced Vietnamese automaker VinFast will build a multi-billion dollar plant in North Carolina, creating thousands of jobs.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed on the construction of VinFast's first electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing factory in North America.

President Biden revealed the news in a tweet from his official White House Twitter account.

He said: “Today’s announcement that the electric vehicle maker VinFast will build an electric vehicle and battery manufacturing facility in North Carolina – $4 billion to create more than 7,000 jobs and hundreds of thousands of electric vehicles and batteries – is the latest example of my economic strategy at work.

“Our efforts to build a clean energy economy are driving companies to make more in America rebuild our supply chains here at home, and ultimately bring down costs for the American people.”

VinFast's factory will create a major manufacturing centre in Chatham County's Triangle Innovation Point megasite, covering an area of 800 hectares, with three main areas for electric cars and buses production and assembly, EV batteries production and ancillary industries for suppliers.

Work on the first phase of the project will start in 2022 after VinFast receives its construction permit. The factory is expected to become operational from July, 2024.

In the first phase, the factory will have a capacity of producing 150,000 vehicles each year. According to the MoU, VinFast will continue to invest in this factory in future phases. Vehicles to be produced at the site include the VinFast VF 9, a 7-passenger all-electric Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV), and the VinFast VF 8, a 5-passenger, all-electric mid-size SUV.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said the state is quickly becoming the centre of the US’s emerging, clean energy economy, stressing that VinFast's transformative project will bring many good jobs to the state, along with a healthier environment as more electric vehicles take to the road to help it reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Meanwhile, North Carolina Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders said that automotive assembly plants are incredible engines for economic growth, due to the positive ripple effects they create across a region's economy.

She expressed her delight that VinFast has decided to launch its North America manufacturing operations from the state, pledging that North Carolina will work hard to make sure the Vietnamese investor find the skilled workforce it need to grow and thrive in the state.

VinFast was founded in 2017 and headquartered in Ha Noi. The carmaker boasts a state-of-the-art vehicle production facility in the northern port city of Hai Phong that will have the capacity to produce 950,000 vehicles per year by 2026.

VinFast has established global operations in the US, Canada, Germany, France, and the Netherlands. The company currently provides an ecosystem of EV products in its home country of Viet Nam, including e-scooters, electric buses, and electric cars, charging station systems, and green energy solutions.

Source: VNS