(Yicai Global) Dec. 13 -- Universal Scientific Industrial will invest USD42 million to build an electronics manufacturing facility in Vietnam to continue its global expansion and meet demand for overseas orders.

In the first phase of the project, the money will go to buying the rights to use about 65,000 square meters of land in an industrial park in Hai Phong and on building and equipping the plant, Shanghai-based USI said in a statement yesterday. The company will decide on the second phase plan and investment based on demand and the its own development goals.

USI aims to complete the set up of a local project firm in the second quarter of next year, but it did not give further details on the project's expected construction and start-up time.

In addition to responding quickly to overseas customer demands, setting up a production base in Vietnam will also help the company to make full use of the country's relatively cheap labor and tax incentives, as well as its geographical advantages due to its Southeast Asian location, the statement added.

USI, which specializes in various services from product design, manufacturing to repair, to brand electronic products or modules, owns 10 production bases in the Chinese mainland, Taiwan, Mexico and Poland, with 18,000 staff worldwide. The company's operating revenue was about USD5 billion last year.