JOHANNESBURG, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Angola's Opaia Group opened a car assembly plant in Luanda on Tuesday, marking the resumption of vehicle production in the country to try to cut reliance on imports and expand local manufacturing.

Opaia is a privately-owned diversified group headquartered in Luanda that has focused on infrastructure projects.

Its new subsidiary Opaia Motors will operate the newly commissioned assembly facility that has installed capacity to produce 22,000 light vehicles and 1,000 buses per year, Opaia said in a statement released on Wednesday.

"The facility is the only operational vehicle assembly plant in Angola and is a significant step in establishing the country's burgeoning automotive manufacturing industry," the company said.

A China-funded vehicle manufacturing plant was established in the country more than a decade ago. It stopped production as economic conditions shifted and Opaia bought the plant's assets.

Opaia will import white-label vehicles for assembly and then sell them under the Opaia Motors brand, the company told Reuters in an emailed response.

Buses will be supplied by Volvo VOLVb.ST and imported from Sweden, while passenger vehicles will be imported from China, where Opaia Motors has partnerships with Chery 9973.HK and Dongfeng Motor 0489.HK.

Apart from reducing the country's dependence on imported vehicles and raising the possibility of future exports, Opaia said it also planned to introduce electric vehicle production, although it did not say when.

(Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; editing by Barbara Lewis)

((nqobile.dludla@thomsonreuters.com; +27103461066;))