Workers at a Korea-invested mobile phone spare part manufacturing factory in Vietnam's northern province of Thai Nguyen (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The Republic of Korea (RoK) poured 2.32 billion USD inVietnam in the first four months of 2018, making up nearly 30 percent of the inflowof investment in the Southeast Asian country.
With the figure, the RoK topped the list of 82 countries and territories investingin Vietnam in the period, according to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA)under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
Notably, some large-scale projects of the RoK registered to increase capital inthe January – April period.
For example, LG Innotek proposed adding 501 million USD to its camera moduleproduction project at Trang Due industrial park in the northern port city ofHai Phong, raising the total registered capital to 1.05 billion USD.
Meanwhile, Kefico Vietnam Co. Ltd. registered to raise capital by 120 millionUSD for its project in the northern province of Hai Duong, which specializes inmanufacturing components and accessories for motored vehicles.
Recently, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) has revealed itsplan to move its main headquarters in Southeast Asia from Singapore to Hanoi tosupport Korean firms doing business in the fast growing market.
KOTRAsaid the decision was made in consideration of the growing number of Koreancompanies that are based in Vietnam or that plan to invest in the SoutheastAsian nation.
According toKOTRA, bilateral trade between Vietnam and the RoK reached 63.9 billion USD in2017. Vietnam is now the fourth largest trading partner of the RoK while thecountry is Vietnam's second-largest.
The agency alsoplans to open new business centres in Ahmedabad, an industrial city in westernIndia, and in Da Nang, a commercial hub in Vietnam’s central region.
KOTRAwill expand business centres in the promising markets to keep up with thechanging trade environment, said CEO Kwon Pyung-oh.
At a recent meeting between Vietnamese and Korean businesses in Hanoi, many RoKfirms highly evaluated Vietnam’s investment environment and investmentincentives.
Gunjae Kim, chairman of the RoK’s Hwasung veterinary medicine company, said alot of RoK firms operating in various fields have made inroads into Vietnam. Hehailed Vietnam’s investment attraction policies with improvements in the businessclimate.
At present, Hwasung has not plannedto open a manufacturing factory in Vietnam, but it wants to seek tradeopportunities and promote import-export activities with Vietnamese businesses,he said.-VNA
VNA
