Looking back and moving forward: June 29, 2018, will mark the 25th anniversary of ABB’s operations in Vietnam.
ABB was officially established in Vietnam in 1993, when it engaged in a market survey. A year later, ABB entered into a joint venture for manufacturing power transformers. ABB set up a second production facility in 1997, showing a firm commitment to the South East Asian nation.
In 2002, the Company shifted to a new business model and became a wholly foreign-owned firm after opening representative offices in Vietnam’s three major regions.
ABB’s growth continued in the following decade. In 2008, the company built another plant producing medium- and high-voltage electric equipment at Bac Ninh province. The new plant, which began operations in 2010, covered 87,000 square meters of space and was ABB’s largest investment capital injection into Vietnam at the time, amounting to $30 million.
As a result of these investments, ABB became the only EU-based foreign company that engaged in production of power and distribution transformers in Vietnam, making it a leader in the nation’s energy and automation segments.
After serving demand for transformers in Vietnam, ABB took solid steps to export its products to the wider Asian market. From 2005, its “Made in Vietnam” transformers began to make inroads into markets around the globe. With the production plants in Bac Ninh put into operation from 2010, ABB’s manufacturing plants in Vietnam now serve customers in more than 60 countries and territories.
“ABB has had a wonderful first 25 years in Vietnam and we are looking forward to the next 25 years and beyond. The Energy and Fourth Industrial revolutions are shaping the future of the country’s economy and we have the right technologies in place that have stood the test of time to allow utilities, industries, infrastructure and transport sectors to capitalize on these changes,” said Brian Hull, Country Managing Director of ABB in Vietnam. “ABB will continue working as a pioneering technology leader in the country and we want to thank our customers for partnering with us through the years and anticipate many more years of shared growth and success”, he added.
Partnering Vietnam’s development towards a more sustainable society
In its 25 year growth journey in Vietnam, ABB has taken part in a string of important projects underpinning the country’s development. These projects include the Phu My thermal power plant, Uong Bi Thermal Power Plant, Tri An Hydro Power Plant, diverse 500/220/100kV substations that feed the national power network, and Hai Van Tunnel – the longest tunnel in Southeast Asia.
ABB has also powered and automated numerous important industrial plants promoting economic development across Vietnam, such as the country’s first oil refinery (Dung Quat), the Nui Phao mining project – one of the largest producers of tungsten, fluoride and bismuth in the world, Song Gianh Cement Plant, Cam Pha Cement Plant, the Cao Son Mine – one of the largest conveyer projects in Asia, and numerous other plants across the spectrum of the Vietnamese economy.
As a developing nation, Vietnam is encountering challenges related to fast-paced urbanization, paired with the ever-increasing demand for infrastructure, safe energy and water sources, standard healthcare services, and diverse environmental and urban sustainable development issues, as well as issues of global concern such as climate change and rising seawater.
The journey for building a brighter future for Vietnam is ongoing. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is shaping the global industry. With its technology leadership and experience, ABB is committed to enabling the integration process and seizing opportunities to help build up a digital future for Vietnamese industries. ABB will accelerate delivery of solutions to support the smart, sustainable development of renewable energy, smart cities, and electric vehicles in the country.
A key driver for ABB in Vietnam will be ABB Ability™, the company’s cross-divisional digital offering, which builds on ABB’s pioneering technology and more than four decades of industrial digital leadership. ABB Ability™ will enable customers to innovate and compete in the emerging digital-industrial marketplace. By combining ABB’s deep domain expertise with network connectivity and the latest digital products and innovations, ABB Ability™ creates powerful solutions and services that solve real business problems and produce tangible business opportunities to increase productivity and efficiency.
Fostering the next generation of engineers
ABB attaches great importance to promoting education in general and specifically the training of engineers. To this end, ABB in Vietnam has donated its latest technologies to leading engineering universities such as Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Danang University of Science and Technology, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City, RMIT and Ton Duc Thang University. This equipment brings practical work processes and experience into the learning environment.
In addition, ABB in Vietnam has supported a string of other programs to nurture young talents. The company’s Jürgen Dormann Foundation has awarded scholarships to support talented students with limited financial resources until graduation, as well as donating computers to help them pursue their passion for technology. ABB’s Graduate Engineering Programme (GEP) has employed excellent graduates and given them opportunities to work at ABB in Vietnam and ABB Group’s subsidiaries in other regional countries. ABB’s internship programs, implemented throughout the year, have offered fresh graduates the experience of working in a global company which sets the highest standards for quality, safety, and integrity.
