Toyota Motor Vietnam Holds Opening Ceremony

Tokyo―TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (TMC) announced today that Toyota Motor Vietnam Co., Ltd. (TMV) held a ceremony on Thursday, October 10 in Hanoi to celebrate the start of its local production and sales operations. The festivities began with a tour of TMC's new Me Linh plant in Vinh Phu Province, where complete knockdown production of the Hiace and Corolla has begun, and was followed by a formal opening ceremony and a reception at the Me Linh Community Center.

Distinguished Vietnamese Government representatives were led by Minister of Industry Dang Vu Chu. Private sector representatives included TMC President Hiroshi Okuda, Chairman Nguyen Anh Doan of the Vietnam Engine and Agricultural Machinery Corp. (VEAM), President Peter Fu Chong Cheng of Kuo (Asia) Pte Ltd.―the three joint venture partners in TMV―and TMV President Takashi Hasegawa.

"Through TMV's business growth, we hope to contribute to the progress of the Vietnamese automobile industry, even modestly," TMV President Hasegawa said in his address, thanking all involved in Toyota's production start in Vietnam.

"Toyota regards Vietnam as an important base in the ASEAN region," TMC President Okuda stated. "Along with our group parts makers, we plan to move forward with production localization and technology transfer." Okuda further emphasized that TMC will look at Vietnam in the context of an ASEAN regional strategy, with the AICO movement and others in mind, and help the country's auto industry grow by directly supporting localization efforts in Vietnam.

The TMC president also announced that, besides donating a Corolla each to Vinh Phu Province and Me Linh District, TMC will set up a Toyota Vietnam Educational Support Program budgeted at about US$500,000 (about ¥50 million).

The program encompasses both the Toyota Scholarship Program for students at the Hanoi Institute of Technology, Ho Chi Minh University, and Hanoi University, and the Study Abroad Program at Toyota Technological Institute. Beginning January 1997, 15 scholarships each year will be offered to outstanding students at each of these three Vietnamese universities, covering a total of 45 students. Enterprising graduate students will be given the opportunity to complete a two year master's program at the Toyota Technological Institute in Japan until the end of 2000.

TMV was established as a joint venture by TMC, VEAM, and Kuo after receiving approval from the Vietnamese government in September 1995. With the support of TMC, TMV plans to produce and market 10,000 high-quality vehicles a year to its Vietnamese customers by 2000.

Outline of TMV

Outline of Plant