MINSK, 8 November (BelTA) – The first batch of low-floor buses of the Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ) was delivered to the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The MAZ representation in Vietnam has been working to promote MAZ auto equipment to the markets of Southeast Asia. A ceremony to deliver the first batch of MAZ-103 low-floor buses to the state transport corporation Transerco, the key passenger carrier in Hanoi, took place on 7 November. Fifteen buses were assembled at the bus assembly plant of Samco Corporation (Ho Chi Minh). The ceremony was attended by Belarus’ Ambassador to Vietnam Vladimir Goshin, the deputy chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee, representatives of the corporations Transerco and Samco, MAZ representation in Vietnam, and also the forwarding company from Vietnam.
Given the tough competition of Chinese, Japanese and Korean bus manufacturers on the Vietnamese, the main thing that tipped the scale in favor of MAZ was the opportunity to assemble low-floor buses 9m to 12m long from CKD kits.
The capital of Vietnam highly appreciated the quality and technical parameters of Belarusian automotive equipment and expressed hope for further cooperation. The city is working to replace the bus fleet and is planning to acquire not less than 300 low-floor buses by 2019.