HANOI, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- The construction of a Vietnamese automobile and motorbike production complex began in Vietnam's northern Hai Phong city on Saturday, making the country one step closer to having its own national brand.
VinFast complex in the island district of Cat Hai, invested by Vietnamese firm Vingroup, is scheduled to launch its first electric motorbike in 2018, first sedan car and sport utility vehicle in 2019, and first electric car in 2020.
VinFast will have a design capacity of 500,000 vehicles a year by 2025, and its automobiles will have the local content rate of 60 percent, Vingroup said at the complex's ground-breaking ceremony.
Addressing the ceremony, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said VinFast is not simply an automobile producing and assembly plant, it is meaningful in terms of national brand.
Vietnam spent nearly 3.5 billion U.S. dollars in importing completely-built automobiles and components for assembly from January to August, declining 10.6 percent year-on-year, said the country's Ministry of Industry and Trade. Enditem
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