US firm Coherent plans high-tech investments in southern Vietnam

Coherent Corp., an American manufacturer of optical materials and semiconductors, plans to invest hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars in the southern province of Dong Nai.

Steve Rummel, senior vice president of engineered materials and laser optics at Coherent Corp., told provincial authorities at a Tuesday meeting that the company wants to develop high-tech projects in the areas of advanced optics, measurement and semiconductors in Dong Nai, with investment capital of hundreds of millions of U.S dollars.

Coherent will lease 7.6 hectares in Nhon Trach 1 and Nhon Trach 2 industrial parks to implement the projects, according to the Dong Nai Industrial Zones Authority.

Coherent now runs 126 factories across the globe and is a key supplier to many global tech giants. In Vietnam, the firm has been making investments since 2005 and runs projects at the VSIP I Industrial Park in the southern province of Binh Duong and Yen Phong Industrial Park in the northern province of Bac Ninh.

Nguyen Hong Linh, chief of the Dong Nai Party Committee, said the projects aligned with the province’s policy of attracting high-tech investments and that local authorities would facilitate their progress.

Dong Nai Vice Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Hoang directed relevant agencies to support Coherent in procedures and training to meet the high-tech projects' labor demand.