Opportunity for Vietnamese businesses to enter the world aviation industry playground

The aviation industry is still a relatively new field in Vietnam. Currently, Vietnam does not have any domestic manufacturers qualified to participate in the supply chains of aircraft manufacturers. However, opportunities are opening up for Vietnamese businesses as the US aircraft manufacturer Boeing has begun to pay attention to this potential market with nearly 100 million people.

An aircraft manufacturing research facility in Aichi Prefecture (Japan). Photo: Thanh Tung/VNS

In the Commercial Market Outlook 2023 report released by Boeing in June 2023, the company forecast that the demand for new commercial aircraft worldwide from now until 2042 will reach nearly 42,600 aircraft, of which the Asia- Pacific region (including Vietnam) accounts for more than 40%.

Notably, the demand for new aircraft of Vietnamese airlines will increase significantly in the context that Vietnam is forecast to be the 5th fastest growing aviation market in the world , with 150 million passengers transported by 2035.

However, sadly, at present, there is still no Vietnamese enterprise qualified to participate in the supply chains of major aircraft manufacturers in the world. Among the companies that can produce components and spare parts for Boeing, Vietnam has about 5 companies but all are foreign-invested enterprises. The same situation also occurs with Airbus Group when this company only has two partners in Vietnam qualified to supply electromechanical equipment, composite structures, and components for its aircraft (including Meggitt Co., Ltd. (France) and Nikkiso Co., Ltd. (Japan)) but both are 100% foreign-invested enterprises.

The main reason is that in order to participate in the global supply chain of aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing, Airbus or Lockheed Martin, in addition to meeting the strict requirements of each company, Vietnamese enterprises must meet the general technical and quality standards of the aviation industry. For example, according to Mr. Onaga Masaru, Chairman of Onaga Co., Ltd. - a Japanese enterprise that has invested in building an aircraft component factory supplying Boeing in Vietnam, one of the important requirements for supporting enterprises when intending to participate in the global aviation and aerospace supply chain is that they need to have AS9100 certification "Aviation Industry Quality Management System".

President Vo Van Thuong received Senior Vice President of Boeing Corporation and President of Boeing Global Brendan Nelson. Photo: VNA

However, the opportunity for Vietnamese enterprises to participate in such global supply chains has come when the giant Boeing began to pay attention to this market. Speaking at a meeting with President Vo Van Thuong in San Francisco on November 15, Dr. Brendan Nelson, Senior Vice President of Boeing Corporation and President of Boeing International, announced that Boeing is committed to building an aviation ecosystem in Vietnam, focusing on building aviation infrastructure, training human resources, building airports, and aircraft repair and maintenance facilities. Mr. Brendan Nelson emphasized that "the development of the aviation industry will open up many new opportunities for the country and its people".

Mr. Brendan Nelson hopes that with his experience, Boeing will support Vietnam in training pilots, technicians, flight service staff; support flight safety regulations and flight safety management team; build and operate aircraft maintenance and repair centers.

However, according to Mr. Onaga Masaru, for the cooperation to be successful, the efforts of all parties, as well as the help of the Vietnamese, Japanese and US governments, are indispensable.

In that context, speaking at an event organized by the Hanoi Supporting Industry Enterprises Association (HANSIBA) on November 7, Mr. Nguyen Hoang, Chairman of N&G Group and Chairman of HANSIBA, proposed that Japan support Vietnamese enterprises in building production processes that meet aviation standards; training high-tech engineers and high-tech workers for Vietnamese enterprises; consulting on technology, production lines and machinery that meet aviation industry standards; building a standard design of a factory with a workshop that meets the standards to produce products according to aviation industry requirements; together selecting products to produce, that is, the output for products produced by Vietnamese enterprises.

Mr. Nguyen Hoang also suggested that the parties cooperate and promote preferential policies and support from the Japanese and Vietnamese Governments for Vietnamese and Japanese enterprises investing in production in Vietnam in the aerospace sector in general and Boeing in particular./.

Linh Anh