LG plans new $4-bln investment in Vietnam

Korean tech giant LG plans to channel another $4 billion into Vietnam, LG Corp. vice chairman and CEO Kwon Bong-seok told Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Monday.

LG Group, with LG Corp. as holding company, has been present in Vietnam since 1995 and invested about $5.3 billion in the country so far to make various products like electronics, cameras, displays, household appliances, and auto components, Bong-seok said in a meeting with the visiting Vietnamese president in Seoul.

Phuc applauded the group’s strong investment in Vietnam and creation of tens of thousands of jobs in the country. He expressed his hope that LG would increase investment in Vietnam, especially in the areas it excells in like automobile and mobile phone components; strengthen cooperation in IT and software training, and place its biggest manufacturing hub in Vietnam.

Vietnam will offer the best investment environment and infrastructure for investors, the state president told Bong-seok.

Bong-seok said LG expected to turn Vietnam into an LG production hub for telephone cameras in the future.

South Korea is the largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam, with the largest Korean investors in the country including Samsung, LG, Hyosung, Lotte, CJ Group, Daewoo E&C, Hyundai, and Posco.

On the same day in Seoul, the Vietnamese leader met with representatives of other major Korean companies operating in Vietnam to call for stronger investments.

Meeting with CJ Group chairman and CEO Sohn Kyung-shik, Phuc highly valued the firm’s investment in food and animal feed production, biotechnology, logistics, and culture. CJ has up to 24 subsidiaries in eight sectors in Vietnam.

Phuc expected CJ to continue expanding investment in Vietnam, turning the country into its global production and business center, and move its Southeast Asian headquarters to Vietnam in order to optimize opportunities created by free trade agreements to which Vietnam is a party, and bring more Vietnamese goods to global markets.

Kyung-shik said his group has implemented commitments on clean food production and biotechnology over the past years, making Vietnam the third largest among its 30 markets around the world.

He added Vietnam would in the coming time become CJ’s production and business center in Southeast Asia.

In another meeting with Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin, President Phuc reiterated that Vietnam will always create favorable conditions for Lotte to make its presence grow in Vietnam.

He welcomed Lotte’s breaking ground on a major urban project in Ho Chi Minh City this September and preparation to open Lotte Mall Tay Ho in Hanoi in August 2023. Phuc asked Lotte to consider investing in developing a modern trade center and residential area in Long An province bordering HCMC.

Receiving Daewoo Engineering & Construction chairman Jung Won-ju, the president described the Korean company’s presence as an appropriate move amid the two countries’ flourishing relations.

He proposed Daewoo E&C build a major hospital in Vietnam, home to a population of 100 million with high demand for healthcare services and medical treatment, as well as invest in infrastructure, oil and gas, smart cities, and services for the Korean investment ecosystem.

The Vietnamese president, while meeting with Hyundai Motor CEO Chang Jae-hoon, called on the Korean carmaker to invest more in support industries, especially auto spare part production.

Phuc welcomed Hyundai’s investment in electric vehicle manufacturing in Vietnam, saying he would assign ministries and regulators to introduce tax and infrastructure support policies and promote the use of EVs. He also called on Hyundai Motor to turn Vietnam into a regional and global hub in the auto industry.

Jae-hoon affirmed his company’s intention to expand investment in EV production to serve both the Vietnamese market and others in Asia.