Gone are the days when Vietnam’s automotive supporting industries were unable to produce nuts and bolts. Now, these industries can supply metal and plastic parts, electric cables, electric motors, and electronic displays, among other things. The number of Vietnamese companies meeting the IATF (International Automotive Task Force) standards now ranks second in Southeast Asia after Thailand and surpasses Malaysia, two of the region’s automotive powers. Vietnam’s automobile market is big enough to encourage relevant parties to focus on proper and systematic investment across the entire industry supply chain. The participation of SMEs “I have never thought that I would enter the auto part manufacturing industry,” Nguyen Khanh Linh, director of the quality management department at An Thinh Technology Company, told The Saigon Times during a tour of the company’s 4,000-square-meter factory in Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone in HCMC in mid-August. The factory floor is insulated, the temperature is maintained at 25°C, and tables and charts monitoring progress and quality are continuously updated. Established in 2007, An Thinh initially produced electrical cables and devices such as sockets, plugs, and power cords. In 2019, the company started manufacturing wires and plugs for automobiles for two auto companies in Vietnam and abroad. […]