The story appears on

Page A9

April 9, 2021

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

HomeBusiness

Chinese mobile phone brand 鈥榲ivo鈥 benefits Bangladeshi employees and consumers

Impressed by the working environment, Mahbuba Rahman Dina opted to travel about 20 kilometers every day from her home to vivo鈥檚 plant in Narayanganj, on the outskirts of Bangladesh capital Dhaka.

鈥淚鈥檝e been working here as assistant manager at the administration section,鈥 Dina told Xinhua in vivo, which is now a household name in Bangladesh.

The mobile phone manufacturer, headquartered in south China鈥檚 Guangdong province, has already established a stronghold over the Bangladesh smartphone market.

鈥淚鈥檝e joined in the service of this (vivo factory) in 2019. First time I came here (from Dhaka) for interview, it鈥檚 far from Dhaka. An excellent working environment impressed me,鈥 Dina continued.

The factory has multinational employees, with 鈥渟taff and employees from Bangladesh, China and India working together,鈥 she said.

With its presence in dozens of countries, vivo began its monumental journey in Bangladesh in 2017 by introducing the V7+ from the iconic V series.

The global brand has gradually carved a niche for itself and become one of the top smartphone brands in Bangladesh, launching a number of innovative and feature-rich variants of smartphones in different series, designed to fit Bangladeshi youth鈥檚 evolving lifestyle needs and preferences.

Vivo officials said they have a strong presence in Bangladesh with more than 5,000 retail stores and over 18 service centers cross the country.

In order to better serve Bangladeshi consumers, create more jobs, and achieve the company鈥檚 motto 鈥渕ore local, more global,鈥 vivo opened its assembly plant in Bangladesh in 2019.

Ethan Chen, vivo鈥檚 Bangladesh plant manager, said, 鈥淪ince vivo opened its factory in Bangladesh, it has managed to capture a sizable portion of the market share in the country.鈥

Today, he said they have both Bangladeshi employees and Chinese management officials in the plant.

These Chinese management officials are mainly responsible for training local employees and they will go back home in a few years, he said.

鈥淚鈥檓 mainly responsible for the quality section at the Bangladesh factory. We need to achieve management localization (target) within one to two years,鈥 he added.

鈥淲e need local engineers and department managers to manage and operate the factory.鈥

In each country, he said vivo鈥檚 strategy is slightly different but the main focus, 鈥渕ore local, more global,鈥 remains the same.

Vijay Kumar Ahlawat, a factory manager from India, said the vivo plant in Bangladesh has currently over 1,000 local and foreign staff and officials.

For the betterment of staff and employees, he said they offer a lot of opportunities including local and foreign trainings.

鈥淲e ensure a lot of welfare benefits,鈥 he added.

鈥淚鈥檓 deeply pleased to be a part of this factory,鈥 said Mohammad Siddiqur Rahman, who has been working in the vivo factory鈥檚 quality section for the last one and a half years.

鈥淨uite friendly working environment we have here. There is ample opportunities for us to learn as many foreign experts also work with us,鈥 he said.

Experts from China have often visited the factory also, he added.

鈥淲e鈥檙e also sent for training (abroad). There are different types of events such as different cultural events, annual events and sports events. We鈥檝e too many service benefits.鈥

Vivo has adhered to the core values of 鈥渃ustomer centric design鈥 and 鈥渋nnovation鈥 by introducing innovative technology and being a trendsetter in the world of mobile technology.

China has both 4G and 5G now, Terry Zhu, another factory official from China, said.

But for Bangladesh market, he said 4G is now at a stage of rapid expansion.

In the near future, Zhu said the sales of smart phones may grow in Bangladesh faster than in China.

Because of the pandemic, he said many people have been affected even in their normal work, and their income was definitely impacted to some extent.

It also had some impact on the market share and sales of the entire mobile phone market, but for now, it is undergoing a rapid recovery, he added.

鈥淥ur initial monthly production capacity was only about 50,000 handsets, and now we鈥檝e reached 200,000 handsets,鈥 Zhu said. 鈥淥ur longer-term goal is to reach a monthly production capacity of 400,000 handsets in the near future.鈥

Vivo鈥檚 Managing Director in Bangladesh Du Baohua said Bangladesh is a very important market.

鈥淲e maintain an unremitting focus on Bangladesh and so we鈥檝e introduced top-notch product ranges that have received a phenomenal response from the youth of the country.鈥


 

Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

娌叕缃戝畨澶 31010602000204鍙

Email this to your friend