Apple supplier Foxconn is expanding its facilities in northern Vietnam to boost and diversify production, state media reported on Saturday.
The Taiwanese conglomerate signed a $300 million memorandum of understanding with Vietnamese developer Kinh Bac City to expand its facility northeast of Hanoi, the reports said.
The move continues an exodus of major companies from China because of problems linked to the country’s zero-Covid policies, as well as higher labour costs and geopolitical tensions.
The Taiwanese company’s new factory, on a plot of 50.5 hectares (125 acres) in Bac Giang province, will generate 30,000 local jobs, the Tuoi Tre newspaper said.
Foxconn, formally called Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, and Kinh Bac City did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The move follows a report this week that Foxconn has started test production of the Apple Watch in northern Vietnam.
Foxconn, which has been in Bac Giang for 15 years, has moved part of its iPad and AirPods production to Bac Giang’s Quang Chau Industrial Park, Tuoi Tre reported.
It did not say which type of products would be produced at the new factory or its capacity.
The Vietnamese government said last year Foxconn had invested $1.5 billion in the Southeast Asian country.
- Reuters with additional editing by Jim Pollard
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