VietNamNet Bridge - The distance between the dream and reality of an aircraft industry in Vietnam is very wide, experts say.

 

Airbus said it wanted to set up a factory in Vietnam.

The experts have applauded the statement of Airbus which said it planned to set up a factory in Vietnam.

Nguyen Thien Tong from the HCM City University of Technology said the electric safety seat belt kit used in the A320 aircraft which Airbus plans to make in Vietnam is a part that requires higher quality and standards than products of similar kinds used in other vehicles such as cars.

If such a factory suggested by Airbus is set up, Vietnam can think of expanding production and making high-quality seat belt products for cars or for workers who undertake repair work at high-rise buildings and high-voltage electricity transmission lines. 

Vietnam can think of expanding production and making high-quality seat belt products for cars or for workers who undertake repair work at high-rise buildings and high-voltage electricity transmission lines.

Nguyen Duc Cuong, chair of the Vietnam Aviation-Aerospace Association, also said if Airbus sets up its factory, it would generate thousands of jobs and pay taxes to the state. 

However, he said the work is just support work and should not be expected to be high added value. 

Cuong said the experts who cherish the dream of an aircraft industry in Vietnam were “too optimistic”.

“Just because you can make some products for an airplane’s interior does not mean you can make an aircraft,” he said.

As for the helicopters made by Vietnamese, including an ultralight one by a Viet Kieu in Canada 10 years ago, Cuong said these are products made to satisfy someone’s aspirations, not products for commercial development, which always require high standards and quality.

Bui Ngoc Son, a renowned economist, was also once asked if Vietnam should make aircraft when local newspapers reported that Boeing was going to set up a factory in China “Vietnam should not cherish an unrealistic dream when it still has to import simple products,” he said. 

Tong from the HCM City University of Technology also said Vietnamese should be ‘more practical’ when considering what they can do to develop the aviation industry.

Vietnam can cooperate with other countries to conduct research and approach to the modern aviation technology, he said. 

South Korea makes small aircraft with two seats and wants Vietnamese to join the process of making an aircraft body.

Other foreign-invested enterprises in Vietnam make components for aircraft manufacturers that are rivals of Airbus. MHI Aerospace Vietnam, a subsidiary of Japanese Mitsubishi, makes doors for passenger cabins and inboards flaps for Boeing 777.

Dat Viet