US tech firm Coherent to invest $83 mln in southern Vietnam industrial hub

Coherent Corp., an American manufacturer of optical materials and semiconductors, will invest $83 million through two subsidiaries in Dong Nai province, an industrial hub in Vietnam’s southern region.

Dong Nai authorities granted an in-principle approval for the investment projects on the sidelines of an investment promotion conference held on Monday to announce the province's 2021-2030 masterplan.

Coherent Vietnam (Dong Nai) Company Limited will invest $29 million in manufacturing optical equipment at the Nhon Trach 1 Industrial Park; while another Coherent subsidiary, Silicon Carbide Vietnam LLC, will invest $54 million in manufacturing semiconductor materials for the electronics sector at the same park.

Speaking at the event, Sunny Sun, president of Coherent’s Networking Segment, noted that his company was a U.S-headquartered global leading producer of advanced materials, optics and semiconductors.

He praised Dong Nai’s advantages as an investment destination, including a prime location and investments being made in developing major traffic infrastructure projects including the Long Thanh International Airport that’s under constrution. Dong Nai authorities’ close cooperation with businesses was another advantage, he added.

A $40 million television manufacturing project by Regza Vietnam Electronics Company Limited; a $33 million project producing household electrical items and circuit boards by Global Star Technology Vietnam Company Limited; and a $21 million investment by Nike supplier Vietnam Dona Gold Long John International Co., Ltd. were the other FDI projects granted in-principle approvals on Monday.

Dong Nai authorities also granted in-principle approvals to 12 domestic projects, mostly in housing, urban area development, and industrial real estate.

Together, the17 projects have a capital investment of more than $6 billion.

According to provincial data, Dong Nai attracted FDI of $1.16 billion in the first nine months of this year, including $676 million in 69 new projects and $490 million in additional capital for 85 existing projects.