Supporting industry and Metalex expos open in HCMC

Visitors view products at the supporting industry expo, which is organized concurrently with Metalex Vietnam on machine tools and metalworking technologies in District 7 - Photo: Quoc Hung HCMC – An exhibition on supporting industries and an international machine tools and metalworking technology exhibition known as Metalex Vietnam opened on Thursday at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center in District 7. The supporting industry expo is co-organized by the HCMC Investment and Trade Promotion Center and Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) in the city, while Reed Tradex is the organizer of Metalex Vietnam. While the supporting industry expo features Japanese manufacturers displaying parts, equipment, or supporting services, and Vietnamese suppliers who are part and equipment makers and subcontractors, Metalex Vietnam highlights latest machine tools and metalworking technologies. Metalex Vietnam has a “Hi-Tech Zone” where modern machinery and technology are displayed, and “Robot Demonstration,” which unveils extraordinary capacity of “Motoman,” an intelligent industrial robot which can cut and weld metal with laser in fluid and precise movements. Meanwhile, over 100 local suppliers and Japanese manufacturers mainly in the automobile, motorcycle and electronics parts manufacturing industries are looking for business opportunities at the supporting industry expo. Half of them are Japanese companies in Vietnam and directly from Japan, while the other half are local joint ventures. This expo “aims to develop supporting industries in Vietnam as part of cooperation projects based on the Japan-Vietnam Economic Partnership Agreement signed in 2008,” said Tetsusaburo Hayashi, executive vice president of JETRO. “One of the main problems for these firms is the difficulty in procuring parts. According to a JETRO survey, Vietnam ranks lower than its ASEAN neighbors in terms of local content rates for Japanese-affiliated firms in these countries,” he said, adding this issue affects not only the competitiveness of firms operating locally, but also Vietnam’s international competitiveness. Duangdej Yaikwarmdee, deputy managing director of Reed Tradex, said, “The combination of two expos will create an all-under-one-roof meeting center for the manufacturing community. Buyers and sellers would meet, exchange knowledge and ideas, discover technologies, and develop business networks.”