Taiwan’s Hon Hai to build $50 mln plant in Russia

“The plant could be used to manufacture products such as mobile phones, computer components and different types of electronics,” said Arthur Huang, a company spokesman. Huang added that construction on the project, which was approved by the board on Monday, could start this year but did not give a specific timetable. Hon Hai has major production facilities in China, Mexico, Hungary, India, Finland and the Czech Republic, and last July announced plans to invest $1 billion in a facility in Hanoi. Hon Hai shares had risen 1.95% to T$183.00 by 0350 GMT, outperforming the main TAIEX index’s 1.18% gain.

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co makes iPods and iPhones for Apple Inc, as well as desktop computers and components for Dell Inc, Hewlett-Packard Co and Sony Corp. It also makes computer components under its own Foxconn brand name and has been selling the products through channel distributors since mid-2004. Last year, Hon Hai said it planned to invest $1 billion in China’s coastal city of Qinhuangdao and in northeastern provinces where labor costs are low. The Taiwan firm has also expressed interest in setting up plants in China’s Inner Mongolia region as costs and living standards rise in China’s coastal cities. (Reuters)