VN businesses redirect production to adapt to Covid-19

Some large corporations have shifted to making products that can be useful in the fight against Covid-19. Vingroup has promised to make ventilators, and garment companies are making face masks from antibacterial fabric.

On March 30, the leaders of Vingroup convened an extraordinary meeting.

They requested all the research institutes of the group, including ones for automobile design, mobile devices, smart home appliances, telecommunication equipment design, smart battery design, the VinFast automobile factory and VinSmart electronics factories, to stop all their routine plans to search for solutions to manufacture breathing machines and body temperature meters.

Vingroup signed a contract with the US company Medtronic for the right to use its design for a NIPPV (Noninvasive Positive Pressure Ventilation) ventilator. It has also set to work on a NIPPV ventilator based on a design shared by MIT university in the US.

According to Nguyen Viet Quang, CEO of Vingroup, body temperature meters have been manufactured on a trial basis and will cost VND16 million, or tens of times lower than those now available in the market. The NIPPV ventilator cost VND22 million, while it is VND160 million for Invasive Positive Pressure Ventilation (IPPV).

Vingroup plans to donate 5,000 NIPPV machines to the Ministry of Health which will serve the fight against Covid-19.

With the capacity of VinFast and VinSmart factories, Vingroup can manufacture 45,000 NIPPV and IPPV machines each month, and can do outsourcing for
manufacturers around the world.

A number of garment companies shifted to making face masks from antibacterial fabric.

Everpia, specializing in making bedding, now uses materials to make face masks. Dong Xuan Knitting Co, which makes antibacterial fabric for export to Japan, uses fabric to make face masks for domestic consumption. It also provides fabric to other garment companies.

Nha Be Garment has also organized the production of antibacterial face masks with the initial capacity of 5,000 products a day and VND10,000 products a day in the future.

As of mid-March, Vinatex’s subsidiaries had produced 10 million antibacterial face masks for the market. In addition, about 300 tons of antibacterial fabric, enough to make 16 million face masks, have been provided.

While many enterprises saw their production come to a stop, Asanzo, a TV and electric household appliance manufacturer, decided to set up an air-conditioner production line.

Its six air-conditioner models, all of which are smart and energy saving, are sold for at VND5 million, a price which is very competitive with imports.