Piaggio to invest $30 mln in Vietnam scooter plant

HANOI, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Italy'c Piaggio (PIA.MI) will invest $30 million in a plant in northern Vietnam to produce up to 50,000 scooters a year, state media reported on Monday.

The plant, to be built in Vinh Phuc province, near Hanoi, would be operational by 2009, the Thanh Nien daily reported.

Piaggio sells imported Vespa scooters in Vietnam at about $5,000 each, about four times the price of motorcycles.

In July, Honda Motor Vietnam (7267.T) said it aimed to expand production to 1.5 million motorcycles next year from 1 million now to meet strong demand, especially in rural areas.

The country of 85 million people has about 20 million motorcycles.

((Reporting by Nguyen Nhat Lam, editing by Michael Battye; Reuters Messaging: nhatlam.nguyen.reuters.com@reuters.net; +84 4 825 9623)) Keywords: VIETNAM PIAGGIO/INVESTMENT

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