Vietnamese Workforce Lures Thai Investors'

Thailand's jewellery maker GFM highly appreciates the attraction of Vietnamese workforce market to Thai investors, Thai’s Phuchatcan Newspaper reported as quoting Mrs Sripet Techamathavorn, president of the Managing Board and directress of GFM.

Mrs Sripet said GFM is preparing to move several production steps and outsourcing works to Vietnam. The move is accounted for by the lower labour costs in Vietnam than in Thailand where the labour costs are continually on the rise. Mrs Sripet admitted that Vietnamese workers’ skills currently are not as high as those in Thailand but they still meet professional qualifications and are the best solution to GFM’s cost cuts.

The work to be moved to Vietnam are, of course, labour-intensive. GFM is considering whether to hire existing workshops to start working immediately to save short-term costs or to build its own production facilities to do long-term business in Vietnam. According to GFM’s estimations, it can inaugurate its factories in Vietnam in the middle of this year. The global demand for jewellery commonly increases in the first and the last quarters of a year, GFM, therefore, wants to speed up necessary works to stabilize production in Vietnam.

Mrs Sripet also revealed that the GFM’s removal to Vietnam is partially due to Vietnam’s favourable locations to penetrate into China. GFM’s products need meticulous and skilful processing. Thai jewellers outmanoeuvre Vietnamese but Vietnamese are better than Chinese. Furthermore, Vietnamese workers are more laborious and more up-and-coming than the Chinese. All GFM’s jewellery, 30 per cent made from gold and 70 per cent from silver, will be exported. Cost prices also play a key role in GFM businesses. For that reason, low-cost but high-quality labour in Vietnam will dodge overpressure from increasing labour costs in Thailand.

Apart from moving several production steps and expanding outsourcing works in Vietnam, GFM is planning to set up a marketing company which will be responsible for selecting and establishing new sales agents in other countries. The obvious objectives of GFM are extending its arms out of its traditional European markets and diversifying its sales channels. GFM now has a capacity of one million products per annum.

• B.T