Like other Saturday mornings after the regular meeting, Mr Huang Ruey Der, general director of Tainan Spinning Co, walks quickly in the sun from workshop to workshop to examine the production activities of this company.
After more than 11 years doing business in Vietnam, Mr Huang felt happy to see his seven spinning factories covering 36,068 square metres and generating US$13 million revenue a year. Tainan has become an exemplary Taiwanese enterprise in Vietnam. However, Mr Huang is never completely satisfied with his achievement and is adding more effort to make greater feats.
In 1996, Tainan sought business opportunities in Vietnam. Mr Huang like other members in the visiting delegation found similarities in culture and customs between Vietnam and Taiwan (China). They also found that this was a promising land. They decided to build factories in spite of encountering great difficulties in investment procedures, infrastructure, machinery importing procedures and production material sources. However, things got better and better along with reform in Vietnam and the determination of the Tainan workforce.
According to Huang, product quality, timely goods delivery and wholehearted service of the Tainan employees brought in more customers and partners. The success of an enterprise comes from the effort of individuals and Mr Huang himself added to building today’s successfull Tainan. He is a hardworking, friendly and considerate Taiwanese businessman.
More plants mean larger production for the company but less relaxation time for Mr Huang. He is seen shuttling between his office in Ho Chi Minh City to Tainan Bien Hoa factories in Dong Nai province and Namtex Knitting and Dying Company in Nhon Trach district, Dong Nai province (which can make 700 tonnes of yarn a day). His hardworking manner continuously brings more success for this company.
Tainan started with capacity of 50,000 spindles in 1997 and rapidly expanded up to 290,000 spindles by 2005. To meet the needs of global and local buyers, Tainan has 340,000 spindles currently, processing 5,800 tonnes of yarn (mainly TC/CVC/CD/CM) per month. To obtain a better position against market competitors, Tainan plans to further expand capacity to 500,000 spindles before the end of 2008. “With this production scale, Tainan will be able to supply 8,500 tonnes of yarn per month,” said Mr Huang Ruey Der, general director of Tainan Spinning.
Currently, 70 per cent of company products are for export, mainly to ASEAN nations like the Philippines and Malaysia, as well as Taiwan.
Tainan also invested in expanding production facilities. So far, total investment capital for spinning factories amounted to US$155 million.
Currently, pay for workers in Tainan Spinning is 1.5 times the amount paid by other spinning companies in the region. Tainan also granted scholarships to students in technical schools. The company provides entertainment areas for employees and green areas surrounding the factory.
With its active contributions to the development of the Vietnamese textile-garment industry, Tainan has been honoured with a variety of prizes, including the Saigon Times Top 40 Award for the 40 best wholly foreign-owned companies in four consecutive years, the Golden Dragon 2006 by Vietnam Economic Times Newspaper and the listing among the top 232 outstanding textile companies with high export revenue and FOB export by the Ministry of Industry, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas).
Mr Huang has the greatest reward, the development of Tainan factories in Vietnam and better living standards for Tainan employees. This is also a great contribution to the community development of the largest foreign-invested textile company in Vietnam.
Phan Thanh
Vietnamese
