Representatives of Da Nang Investment Promotion Agency and the vehicle component solutions development centre (LG-VS) under Korean LG Electronics Viet Nam-Hai Phong company sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on building the first R&D centre in the city and Viet Nam. — VNS Photo Cong Thanh
The central city’s Investment Promotion Agency (IPA) and the vehicle component solutions development centre (LG-VS) under Korean LG Electronics Viet Nam-Hai Phong company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on building the first R&D centre in the city and Viet Nam.
Jung Seung Min, director of LG-VS, said the MoU would help the company develop the first R&D centre in Viet Nam and Da Nang after introducing an office in Ha Noi in 2016.
LG-VS is the quickest foreign investor in Da Nang as it accelerated the process of market studies and investment in a very short time, according to the director of the Da Nang IPA, Huynh Thi Lien Phuong.
Phuong said the investment decision in Da Nang from LG-VS matched the city’s Master Plan on information technology and hi-tech industries.
Following the latest report from LG, the Korean electronic group has opened representative offices in Ha Noi, HCM City and Da Nang. Seven out of eight subsidiaries are manufacturing at Hai Phong city’s Trang Due Industrial Park.
The group sees Da Nang as a key location for its R&D centre in the near future.
Korea is one of the top five foreign investors in Da Nang, with 232 projects worth US$390 million.
Da Nang has drawn 868 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects with total registered investment of $3.5 billion.
Earlier this year, the Shilla Hotels & Resorts – a new flagship of the leading hospitality corporation in Korea – opened its latest brand name, Shilla Monogram Da Nang.
The South Korea Trade and Investment Agency (KOTRA) also opened its representative office in Da Nang to promote investment and connections among Korean investors in 2018.
Korean tourists are the second largest segment of foreign tourist arrivals to Da Nang with nearly 1 million per year – 20 per cent of total foreign travellers.
Both Vietnamese and Korean budget airlines have operated daily flights between Korean cities Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Pusan and Musan and Da Nang since 2014 with 12 flights from Korea to Da Nang every week.
In 2013, TCIE Viet Nam company, a member of Malaysia’s Tan Chong Motor Group, opened the first locally-assembled Nissan car factory at the city’s Hoa Khanh industrial zone.
The Japanese Tokai company also launched its plant to make plastic and rubber spare parts and accessories for automobiles in the city from 2013.
Russian automotive manufacturer Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod (GAZ) has been seeking a joint venture with a local partner to build an automobile plant in the city. — VNS