South Korea automation firm plans $145 mln investment in northern Vietnam province

YNC Korea, an automation firm and a partner of South Korean chaebols such as LG and Hyundai, plans to invest $145 million in Vietnam’s northern coastal province of Quang Ninh.

A delegation of the firm made the statement at a Wednesday meeting with Quang Ninh Chairman Cao Tuong Huy. The firm aims to invest $65 million in a 40-MW biomass power project, utilizing byproducts of the province’s agriculture-forestry sector.

The firm will invest another $80 million in a factory to manufacture emission-reduction equipment for automobiles, with an annual capacity of 10 million items, serving Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries.

YNC Korea also plans to plant bamboo in the province as a forestry investment to produce input materials for its factories there, the delegation said. The project can create many local jobs, it added.

Backing the proposal, Cao Tuong Huy affirmed that provincial authorities would provide the best conditions for the investments, such as administrative procedures, land, site clearance, and public services. Bamboo planting also fits the province’s tree-planting plan in the post-Yagi typhoon period, Huy emphasized.

Registered foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam hit $20.52 billion in the first eight months of the year, up 7% year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Quang Ninh was the second-biggest FDI destination with $1.78 billion, up 131%. The northern province of Bac Ninh was the biggest recipient with $3.47 billion.