FAW receives government funding for expansion in Africa
China FAW Group Co. last week obtained $45 million from a fund set up by the Chinese government to finance the expansion of its operations in Africa.
Vita
The $45 million government funding is part of a $5 billion Africa-China Development Fund the Chinese government established in 2007 to support domestic Chinese companies to invest in Africa, FAW said in a statement on March 23.
Supported by the government funding, FAW plans to invest $100 million in the construction of automobile manufacturing facilities in Africa to localize the manufacture of its products there.
FAW did not provide a timeframe for making this investment.
Since entering the African market in 1992, FAW has built truck assemblies in the Republic of South Africa and Tanzania. The company says its trucks are now sold in 27 African countries.
In July 2009, the company started selling its own brand sedan, the Besturn 50, as well as two-box and three-box versions of the Vita in Egypt. The company plans to sell some 1,000 units of the model in the first two years.
