HCMC – The Japanese government will support Japanese apparel maker Matsuoka Corp. to produce personal protective equipment (PPE) in Vietnam to diversify supplies and lessen its dependence on China amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
NNA Business News, part of the Kyodo News Group, announced Matsuoka’s plans to invest three billion yen (US$28 million) in An Nam Matsuoka Garment Co., its Vietnamese manufacturing unit.
The move is aimed at starting the production of protective wear and other items in several months, the newspaper cited a Matsuoka spokesman in Japan as saying.
Matsuoka is one of 30 Japanese firms which were recently named recipients of official subsidies from the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to promote the Northeast Asian country’s drive to diversify supply chains and lessen its dependence on China.
The Japan External Trade Organization, which announced the list of subsidy recipients last Friday, said 15 of the 30 firms are connected with projects in Vietnam and six in Thailand.
Matsuoka of Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, set up its Vietnamese unit last November before the coronavirus outbreak, as part of an ongoing campaign, to produce apparel products mainly in Southeast Asian countries, such as Indonesia, Myanmar and Bangladesh.
The apparel maker started producing facial masks earlier this year as Covid-19 spread globally.
By Gia Phong
