In a talk with MPI Minister Vo Hong Phuc last week, Roll Royce Global Strategy head Miles Cowdry said the firm might select Vietnam to develop an aircraft parts manufacturing facility.

The group, however, has yet to reveal the facility’s investment scale and preferred location in Vietnam.

Cowdry made his two-day trip to Vietnam to understand the country’s investment climate and impact of the global crisis on its economy and manufacturing sector.

The trip followed Rolls Royce’s chief executive officer John Rose’s visit to Vietnam a month ago when Rose met PM Nguyen Tan Dung and Vietnamese government agencies to discuss the firm’s long-term presence in Vietnam.

The MPI official said that regular senior-level visits by Rolls Royce was proof of the group’s plan to seek investment opportunities in Vietnam since its establishment of a Vietnam representative office in January last year.

He quoted Rolls Royce representatives as saying that with their wide range of expertise, they would investigate opportunities in their fields of strength such as aviation, marine transport, power, oil and gas in Vietnam.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) is the first manufacturer in the world to locate an aircraft-related production facility in Vietnam. The MHI US$11.25 million factory, underway at Thang Long Industrial Park in Hanoi, is scheduled to commence assembly of flaps and metal component structures this spring.