VinFast breaks ground on $4 billion EV plant in Chatham County
Group chairman our company and the entire team at Vin
Fast
I want to welcome our friends our partners and the
distinguished members of the media to the very first start
of construction ceremony for Vin Fast first North American Manufacturing
Complex
This facility is the crown jewel of Vin Fast's global
expansion
It is the first facility that we are building outside
of Vietnam and it will forever change the trajectory of
the landscape for the EV industry and here in North
Carolina as well
So as most of you will know by now North
Carolina was recently named the best State for Business for
the second year in a row
Thanks in large part to the efforts of Governor Cooper
and many other folks here
But I want to say that it's not just about
taxes and regulations it is about the people of this
community and this state who come together to make projects
like this possible
So today we want to take a little bit of
time to recognize some of those individuals who will help
make this project possible
Today
Please hold your applause until the end
The Vietnam ambassador to the United States the honorable ambassador
Once again North Carolina's Governor Roy Cooper
in the administration Commerce Secretary Michelle Sanders Transportation Secretary Viser
Environmental Quality Secretary sorry Transportation Secretary Secretary Visor
And on we want to acknowledge David Lambert who's the
lead staff person who has been the point of contact
on this project since day one
to the members of the General Assembly for their very
generous support for this project
Senate President Berger House Speaker Moore Senator Bergen Senator Murdoch
and Representative Reeves who are here with us today
and here in Chatham County we have excellent partners
Chatham County EC President Michael Smith county manager Dan Lamontagne
chair of the County Commission Karen Howard Sanford Mayor Salmon
Pittsburgh Mayor Perry and Raleigh Mayor Mary Anne Baldwin
and Furthermore none of this is possible without a huge
project team
So I'd like to thank some of our critical partners
many of which are here today including our construction partners
Inco Barnhill Kim Le Horn Ws E Albert Kahn and
many others
And finally we would not be here today for the
hard work and support of the entire Vin fast team
around the world including our parent company Vin Group
So from Vin Group our vice chairwoman and global CEO
of Madam the deputy the deputy CEO of Vin Group
Madam Juan and from and the CEO of Manufacturing us
Miss Banon
All right
Thank you very much
Let's get one last round of applause for that entire
group to find folks who made this possible
And with that we would like to welcome our very
first speaker of the day
She's the vice chairwoman of Vin Group
She is the CEO of Vin Fast Global our fearless
leader a true visionary in the auto industry
Please join me in welcoming Madam Tule
uh ladies and gentlemen
Um It's a pleasure and honor for me to be
here in North Carolina again
Um I want to thank all of you for coming
here today
Uh And a special thanks to Governor Cooper to ambassador
Zoo and uh to representative groups uh and all the
local and government officials in North Carolina who have helped
us make today a reality and welcome with us in
this place that I consider the second home
Um Just over a year ago uh B announced the
plan to build our first North American manufacturing facility
And today we are here to start the construction of
the first EV factory in North Carolina which will have
an annual production capacity of 100 and 50,000 vehicles
This will better position us to manufacture and distribute evs
in North America and fast growing markets with greater speed
and efficiency
And over the last one year a lot has happened
earlier this year we introduced our first vehicles to the
US customers and we now have two fully electric SUV
models on sale in the US and Canada with hundreds
of vehicles on the road today
And very soon come to North North Carolina
We have received great support from North Carolina State government
the US Department of Energy the US Department of Commerce
and many many more
Our project represents a significant investment and we are proud
to create thousands of jobs in North Korea
But we believe the recognition that we receive here goes
beyond the figures and reflect the mutual ambition that we
are all pursuing with this new facility
Um And thanks to the support of our parent company
we are well positioned to continue the global expansion uh
with a stronger presence in North America with the factory
that we are building
Here
Today wants to strongly contribute to the goal of establishing
robust clean energy supply chains of the US and establish
advanced technology manufacturing
We have been hard at work to cultivate an ecosystem
of suppliers in North Carolina that will complement our facility
and create cutting edge uh industrial processes
Here we have also partnered with Central Carolina Community College
uh to help develop a world class training program and
a center of excellence uh at the state of the
art facility
And this partnership will open the door for the people
of Chatham County and beyond to receive free training uh
and start a career at manufacturing uh EVs that will
improve our environment and have revolutionized the automotive industry
We have felt very very welcome here in North Carolina
and we want to thank all the officials that have
supported us over the past year and all of you
who are here today to celebrate this important moment with
us
We look forward to a long and prosperous future in
this wonderful state and as part of this vibrant local
community um last but not least I'm happy to share
that
Also today the US Securities and Exchange Commission has cleared
our business combination which brings us one step closer to
listing of wind in the US
The official announcement is coming out
Thank you very much
Thank you very much Madam TUI
And next we would like to welcome to the stage
the Vietnam ambassador to the United States the honorable ambassador
Good morning honorable Roy Cooper Governor of North Carolina madam
CEO of global States the leaders very natives
This in which case ladies and gentlemen it's a very
great day today
Um I'm so excited to return to rely for the
groundbreaking of uh electric uh vehicles factory just over a
year ago
I was here with uh Governor Roy Cooper and uh
for the signing ceremony and I have to say that
has done a great job sticking to your timeline and
delivering your commitments with not that governor I want to
say thank you thank you and thank you and uh
others uh federal and state leaders and also the local
authorities for your great support without which the groundbreaking today
would not have been possible
And uh just for the informations last year madam told
me that decided to place the factory here in North
Carolina uh for your for your pool of local talents
and uh for the availabilities of suppliers and the active
support from the local government
And today she again told me that uh the wind
team feels very much at home here in North Carolina
So thank you
Thank you so very much
Getting getting back to this ceremony I believe that you
all share with me the hope that in the near
future EVs produced in North Carolina will be rolling on
roads across the United States playing their part in keeping
the US clean and livable
The factory will also be creating thousands of local jobs
thus contributing to the growth of the local economy
The event today is even more meaningful as it takes
place when Vietnam and the United States are celebrating the
10th anniversary of their comprehensive partnership
The event is a vivid testimony to the vigor growth
of the partnership
The success of is also encouraging other Vietnamese with businesses
to explore investment in investment opportunities in the United States
and in North Carolina
So with us my hobbies congratulations
Go to and to North Carolina
May I also wish every success to the project
Once again I look forward to the continued support from
Governor Roy Cooper and the federal and state authorities and
local community to and to the growth of the Vietnam
United States relations
Thank you
So much for the attention
Thank you very much ambassador
And next we would like to welcome to the stage
Governor Roy Cooper
What a great day everybody
I'm so excited
One of the great things about this company coming to
North Carolina is when I am wearing this tie I
can say no it's not my Duke University tie
It is my then fast
I am so happy to be here because I'm thinking
about the great paying jobs that are going to be
created right here in North Carolina going to put money
in the pockets of working families
And that's a great thing madam Huy
We are so grateful for you and your team
Uh Thank you so much for becoming a resident of
the State of North Carolina and leading this effort
Uh I've been working with this team
This is a strong woman leadership team for be let
me tell you
and Brooke you're ok too
Just so you know that
Mr Ambassador thank you for your presence on several occasions
for being here
Grateful to see leader Robert Reeves right here in his
home area helping push this project every sector of the
way
Thank you Senator Bergen
Thank you for your presence here along with Senator Murdoch
and other legislators
This was a true bipartisan effort
We're grateful to have everybody here working on this
Grateful to have a couple of members of my team
Lee Lily who is head of our pandemic and economic
recovery
And Jordan Richard our Chief Deputy Secretary of Commerce our
entire team from transportation to environment to commerce to our
community
We have all been working on this and I think
comments about the great work of the Chatham County local
officials and local economic developers and also the area counties
who have continued to pull together
Recognizing that these are going to be great jobs for
all of these counties in North Carolina
Thank you for your amazing work
It is a great day to celebrate the hard work
of thousands of North Carolinians to bring the very first
auto assembly plant to our state
We've been working on that for decades folks decades we
wanted an automaker in North Carolina and you know somebody
was looking after us
We were just waiting for that ev market
That's what we were waiting for here in North Carolina
and I talked with President Biden several times about this
Obviously he and his administration have been so supportive and
he is excited about American jobs being created here in
our country and I told him but I'm really excited
about them being North Carolina jobs and that matters
Den Fast is leading an army of clean energy companies
coming to our state
It has helped us to set records for job growth
and economic expansion over the last few years
And when you talk to CEO S of automakers and
truck makers the private sector is moving away from gas
and diesel and into the market at great neck speed
The competition is fierce
So it's important that we have been able to pull
together to harness the economic windfall that is coming from
that to make sure that that money goes into the
pockets of North Carolina
Yes it's critically important for us to fight climate change
and to protect our environment
But this is where the market is going and what
we need to do is to make sure that we
harness that
And yes North Carolina has been ranked number one for
the second year in a row by CNBC but not
only that media company but many other publications have put
North Carolina at the top and a lot of people
want to claim credit for that
The credit goes to the hard working well trained diverse
workforce in North Carolina those people who are the very
best in the country
And when I talk to people at FFA at Toyota
and Honeywell and Google and Apple and all of these
other companies who have decided to come to North Carolina
That is the first thing that they talk about is
the workforce and how important it is to them
And the second thing they talk about is infrastructure and
making sure that we can support their business efforts
And in North Carolina we are moving fast on infrastructure
We have a coordinated effort competing for every single federal
dollar and madam too
One of the main things we're trying to get is
to make sure we have charging stations all over the
state to make sure we are ready for this revolution
And that will be part of the infrastructure effort that
we are putting forward
We are grateful for the education that our people get
in North Carolina and we must continue to invest in
that to make sure we continue to be the best
manufacturing workforce not only in North Carolina but in the
country we are in a global economy no doubt about
it
But what we have to be focused on doing is
make sure that the American people and the people of
North Carolina win in that global economy
And you do that by attracting companies from all over
the world to come to your country and to your
state and create those jobs right here
And this this is what it's all about
And I'm so grateful and I'll tell you as she
gets started in running this company she drove me in
a V fa and it was a great ride
And let me tell you these cars are going to
be great sellers in this country
We are excited about this partnership and look forward to
great years ahead
Thank you very much
Thank you very much Governor Cooper
And next we would like to welcome to the stage
representative Robert Reeves
Good boy Sad Kelly
I tell you I like Cooper just excited and my
heart is palpitating
It is amazing that we got to this place
We got to this place because of the hard work
of all the people in here
I want to start thanking people but Brooks already told
me you got three minutes
So before I go on I want to say madam
too
You have not just gotten a location you have gotten
a family you have gotten a group of people who
are going to support you be there for you and
do anything that you need
I thank all of my leaders that are here
I thank my county commissioners for the vision that they
showed a long time ago
And first I want to make sure that I thank
Doctor Lisa Chapman
I don't see her here but I'm gonna tell you
it matters it matters having people that know the community
know this and CCC the Central Carolina Community College has
made one of the greatest facilities in the state and
I will tell a quick story
We got the open and we're up there
We're saying that she comes and congratulate me and the
first thing she says we need $50 million and you
know what General Assembly we got it for
So thank all of you for your hard work and
everything that you've done and welcome big fast and welcome
the EV Rev revolution
Thank you all for everything you've done
I am excited
I hope you are excited and we are well on
the way to be in the greatest state in this
country and the most progressive state in the south and
showing what you can do when you have great vision
whenever your vision matches not just taking what comes but
knowing what we need to look like
I had the opportunity to come in with Chairman Howard
at the same time getting elected and we know all
the work we've done
I appreciated Governor Cooper's words because he said Reeves hard
work
What he meant to say worrying the purity living heck
out of me
Every time any opportunity came up and chat when we
needed money
When we need a change in de where Michael Smith
would call me and say hey somebody is looking at
us but we got to move this over here and
we need to make something happen
And when we call Governor Cooper's administration when we call
de when we call dot They made it happen and
they didn't make it happen
9 to 5 Monday through Friday Lee Lily is laughing
because he knows because unfortunately he was stuck with me
during this time
They made it happen
If I called on Saturday we had a meeting by
Saturday night
If I called on Sunday Governor Cooper had to get
out of church
But once he was out of church we made those
meetings happen but we didn't just take anything that came
We want to make sure that the people of Chatham
County and all of our surrounding counties had an opportunity
for good jobs jobs that your Children will have
Because if you're like me ultimately when you're working when
you're in your twenties and thirties you're thinking about making
it for yourself then suddenly you have kids you get
a little older and you say it wouldn't be so
bad to have those kids back here
And then you start thinking of grandkids and then you
start thinking of the life you built and a chance
to share that with the people who have made it
possible in your lives
I was a product of that education system that made
us have a great workforce
My father was a product of a great community college
that was being looked at all throughout the world and
we put all that together and we have made Chatham
County the example for every other county and every other
Southern state about how to get it done
So madam Tuy
Thank you ambassador
Thank you officials
Thank you
Thank all of you for your vision for your understanding
and we promise you we're happy to share
So Chatham County let's give everybody a warm welcome to
come and see how it's done
Thank you
Yeah
Thank you
Thank you Representative Reeves and thank you to all of
our speakers
Excellent
Thank you so much
Can we get another round of applause for all of
our speakers
before we move on We'd like to acknowledge one more
member of this community
So the Mary Oaks Baptist Church is a church that
was built in 18 88
As you know the expansion plans for this area could
result in the church being displaced
Ceo MS Van had the distinct honor of attending the
Sunday service at the Mary Oaks Baptist Church last week
and was welcomed with open arms from the community and
the members of the congregation there
As a result this week Vin Fast has announced that
we are donating three acres of land to the Mary
Oaks Church on our site free of charge and that
we will be working with our partners to identify resources
needed to potentially relocate the church if necessary
On behalf of everyone at fast we're forever honored to
be part of the fabric of the community that folks
like this have built and they're with us here today
to the members of the Mary Oaks Baptist Church
Would you please stand and be recognized Jerry Sharon Thank
you so much for being here with us today
Ok
As a wonderful moment
All right
Now the moment that we've all been waiting for I
would like to invite some of our distinguished guests with
us here today to do the official ceremonial shoveling of
dirt
So now we're going to do this
Please welcome me once again the honorable ambassador Zump Governor
Cooper Senator Murdoch Representative Reeves chair Karen Howard Senator Bergen
Anthony Johnson Ceo Clay co madam Tuy Lee and Miss
Van Nguyen we're going to have our VIP head over
to the shoveling center over here like our media partners
as well to have the ability to get up front
and get photographs
And for the rest of you if you like go
ahead clear
Everybody has to go behind
No behind
Great
Thanks for that
No
Yeah
No that
I
go ahead and it's a room
All right ladies and gentlemen the moment we've been waiting
for let's go ahead and take a piece of in
that
All right join me ladies and gentlemen and we'll count
it down
Ok
Here we go
321
Classic
Bye
Right