Multiple power outages in Vietnam‘s industrial parks may affect the production capacity of major factories

    According to Taiwanese media reports, the northern industrial zones in Vietnam will be forced to have power outages in different regions. Local officials have stated that several industrial zones in Beining and Beijiang provinces continue to face the risk of power outages, with Foxconn, Samsung, Lixun, Canon, and others having factories in these two provinces. The local power supply is hindered, which will to some extent affect the production capacity of these factories.

    What makes industrial enterprises most dissatisfied is that power outages in Vietnam do not always follow the schedule. The European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam stated on Monday that it has written to the Vietnamese Ministry of Commerce, requesting the prompt resolution of "frequent and asymptomatic power outages". The Vice Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, Jean Jacques Bouflet, stated that Vietnam needs to find countermeasures as soon as possible and take emergency measures before its reputation as a reliable global manufacturing hub is damaged.

    Due to weak demand in major export markets, Vietnam‘s economic growth rate decreased from 5.9% in the fourth quarter of last year to 3.3% in the first quarter of this year. Frequent power outages during peak summer electricity usage may jeopardize measures to prevent economic slowdown.

    Regarding this situation, Vietnam‘s Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Do Thang Hai, stated over the weekend that the government has requested relevant institutions to increase production of coal and natural gas. According to media reports, the Government of Vietnam is busy looking for ways to increase power supply, such as quickly approving completed renewable energy projects or importing liquefied natural gas.