Japan precision casting maker Castem invests $19 mln in Quang Ninh

Castem Vietnam, part of Japanese precision casting manufacturer Castem, will invest $19 million to build a factory in Vietnam’s northern coastal province of Quang Ninh.

The firm disclosed the information while signing a land use right sublease agreement on Friday, in a move to lease two hectares of land in Song Khoai Industrial Park for the two-phase project.

The first phase is set to enter operation in December 2024, with the second scheduled for July 2027. In total, the factory’s capacity will be 6.4 million products a year.

It is the first project by a Japanese investor in Song Khoai Industrial Park. The facility expects Castem’s investment to attract more Japanese investors.

Song Khoai IP, invested by Thailand’s biggest industrial developer Amata, is looking to attract $1 billion in 12 projects this year, raising the total investments in the park to $2.6 billion.

Vietnam’s economy expanded by 4.14% in the second quarter from a year ago, despite slowing global demand for imports, the General Statistics Office (GSO) said on Thursday. In the first half of 2023, the economy expanded by 3.72% year-on-year, the GSO added.

Quang Ninh province outperformed the country’s overall figure with GDP growth of 9.46% in the first half of this year, up 0.24 percentage points year-on-year, provincial authorities reported on Friday.

The business environment in Quang Ninh is among the best in Vietnam. The province topped the annual Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) in 2022 for the sixth consecutive year with a score of 72.95 out of 100. The PCI 2022, released by the VCCI and USAID in April, is the 18th edition of the ranking based on the business environment and improvements to administrative procedures in the country.

Registered foreign direct investment capital in Vietnam declined 7.3% year-on-year to nearly $10.86 billion in the first five months of the year, while disbursed capital dropped 0.8% to $7.56 billion, the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) said. Of which, Quang Ninh’s total figure was $422.11 million, the 12th highest in the country in the five-month period.