Mitsubishi searches for hundreds more factory workers
Mitsubishi searches for hundreds more factory workers
Major Japanese electronics and spare parts producer Mitsubishi Materials Corporation (MMC) Ceramics Plant expects to create hundreds of job opportunities at its factory in Vientiane next year.
“Once the factory construction is complete, we will need to employ about 600 people,” MMC representative Mr Naoyuki Ochi said last week in Vientiane.
“The requirement for 600 people is the main reason we were able to get this location,” Mr Ochi said at an agreement signing ceremony between the company and Lao industrial zone Vientiane Industrial and Trade Area (VITA Park).
Mr Ochi said the number of employees needed was an issue causing the company some concern because of the relatively small Lao population.
The factory will produce electronic components for the Asian and European markets.
The parts will mainly consist of temperature control equipment and thermostats which are used in air conditioners, refrigerators, rice cookers and cars.
The construction of the plant will begin soon now the agreement has been signed and the project is expected to finish in March next year.
The factory represents an investment of more than 64 billion kip (US$8 million).
VITA Park President Mr Sibounheuang Viengheuangphay said so far there have been more than 600 people working in VITA Park.
“We expect that employment will increase to at least 10,000 people in the 2015-16 financial year,” Mr Sibounheuang said.
He said VITA Park will help the company find workers if it needed assistance. It requires tertiary graduates as well as manual workers.
The company is now preparing to educate its Lao trainers so they are ready to train the hundreds of new staff the factory will need once it opens its doors.
“So Lao people who want to work at the company should have no communication concerns about the use of a foreign language because the trainers will be Lao,” Mr Sibounheuang said.
“The company will employ people between the ages of 18 and 30.”
Currently the shortage of labour in Laos is a major issue for foreign investors, which means industry development is struggling but some companies have taken the decision to expand their business here.
VITA Park is one of the major industrial parks in Vientiane requiring more workers for the factories in the area. There are currently 28 companies that have invested in the park.
One of the electronic equipment factories and one of the garment factories, which need around 1,600 workers to keep production running optimally, have only just over 600 Lao and 14 foreign labourers working there, Mr Sibounheuang told Vientiane Times .
VITA Park is located on 110 hectares of land in Xaythany district of Vientiane and currently more than 50 percent of the space has been reserved by 28 companies for the construction of factories.
The companies include investors from Denmark, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan and China and they have a total registered capital of more than 332.92 billion kip (US$41.6 million).
VITA Park is operated by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce in collaboration with a private company from Taiwan.
The cost of investment is approximately 344 billion kip (US$43 million) with Laos having a 30 percent share and the Taiwanese company holding a 70 percent share in the operation.
There is a 75 year concession on the land and the company is able to negotiate with the government if they want to extend the agreement.
vientiane times
