Business news

MAZ is busy setting up two joint ventures in Vietnam to assemble trucks (MAZ Asia) and passenger vehicles (MAZ Zenit). The MAZ truck factory is being built 40km away from Hanoi and is supposed to be commissioned by the end of the year. The establishment of the joint venture to make MAZ buses is only a prospect for now. Dmitry Katerinich said: “We have managed to establish a joint venture to assemble trucks in Vietnam. The factory is being built and will be commissioned soon. We have studied the market and together with a Vietnamese partner have chosen the vehicle models the market needs. A new standard has been enforced in Vietnam. We had to adjust external dimensions of our vehicles and the load per axle. This is why we have come up with new vehicle models and a better style specifically for Vietnam and ASEAN countries. In the future we intend to assemble about 1,000 vehicles per annum to the tune of over $40 million. That is intended for the Vietnamese market alone. We have plans to sell products to the ASEAN market, too.”

In turn, the deputy prime minister of Vietnam drew attention to the high quality of MAZ vehicles. “We particularly like the models adapted to Vietnamese conditions — small tractors and buses. We are glad that MAZ is setting up a joint venture in Vietnam. It is a vivid example of our cooperation. It is useful and mutually beneficial,” stressed Pham Binh Minh. The share of local components in Vietnam-assembled MAZ trucks will be 40% by 2020. It will allow selling the trucks in the ASEAN countries without customs duties.

The establishment of the bus assembly joint venture is being discussed. The MAZ director general said: “Yesterday we addressed all the issues impeding the creation of this enterprise. I hope we will sign the agreement on setting up the second joint venture soon. We will make buses able to carry more passengers, low-floor buses specifically for large cities. After studying the situation, we decided we can sell about 500 buses of the kind to Vietnam every year — over $50 million per annum.”

A contract for selling 400 MAZ vehicles (200 trucks and 200 assembly kits) to the tune of $18.1 million to Vietnam was signed on 27 June. Dmitry Katerinich added: “Apart from that, we’ve received a quota for selling 750 assembled vehicles without duties within three years. We will also be able to ship 4,000 assembly kits without duties within five years. I believe that the great preference has been granted to MAZ by Vietnam because we’ve established a joint venture.”

During the tour of the company members of the Vietnamese delegation were made familiar with MAZ’s product range as well as the products the company intends to sell to and localize the production of in Vietnam later on. The visitors were also made familiar with products made by other Belarusian companies — MTZ, Minsk Motor Plant (MMZ), Amkodor, Motovelo, and Gomselmash.