Nokia today said its manufacturing facility in Vietnam is expected to start operations early next year.

“Located in Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park in Bac Ninh province, the Nokia Vietnam manufacturing facility is being developed on 17 hectares. Nokia expects to start operations of this factory in early 2013,” Nokia said in a statement.

The new manufacturing site is being established to meet the growth in demand as well as to help Nokia deliver a contemporary mobile experience to the next billion consumers all over the world, it added.

“The new Nokia manufacturing plant will produce and provide new devices for compelling and affordable, localised mobile experiences, particularly in the growth markets,” Nokia’s Executive Vice President for Mobile Phones, Ms Mary McDowell, said.

Nokia entered Vietnam in 1996 and currently operates two representative offices in the country. In November 2011, it established a new company, Nokia (Vietnam) LLC, to build and operate the new Vietnam manufacturing facility, the statement said.