Southern localities of Vietnam has been a major destination for investment from the Republic of Korea (RoK) in recent years, and local textile-garment and footwear industries have proved to be a magnet for an influx of capital from this country.

Textile-garment and footwear industries are a magnet for investment from the RoK in the southern region

In late February, the Changshin Vietnam Co. Ltd began the construction of a footwear factory worth 100 million USD in Tan Phu Industrial Park, the southern province of Dong Nai. Covering 14.3ha of land, this plant will manufacture over 27 million pairs of shoes each year when operational in 2020.

This is the biggest foreign direct investment (FDI) project in Dong Nai since the beginning of 2019.

The RoK-invested company has already had two production facilities in the province’s Thanh Phu Industrial Park, including a shoe sole painting workshop invested with 4 million USD.

In the nearby province of Binh Duong, the local administration recently licensed the Kyungbang Vietnam Co. Ltd to raise its investment capital by 40 million USD to boost the production capacity to 9,000 tonnes of cotton fibres and 11,000 tonnes of blended fibres per year.

With such additional capital, the firm’s project now has total capital of more than 219 million USD.

Statistics from localities in the southern key economic region show that the RoK has continually been among the top sources of FDI capital here.

In 2018, the RoK took the lead among countries and territories investing in Dong Nai with about 40 projects worth over 234.2 million USD. Meanwhile, it ranked second among foreign investors in Binh Duong with total registered capital of over 302 million USD.

Korean companies mainly invested in industrial production like footwear, fibre, textile, electronics, and machinery manufacturing. They are planning to develop many projects in supporting industries in the coming time to supply materials for these production sectors.

At a recent meeting with Dong Nai’s authorities, Vice Consul General of the RoK to Ho Chi Minh City Chung Minchul said a large number of Korean firms are operating profitably in the province, so they want to expand their investments.

Director of the Binh Duong provincial Department of Planning and Investment Nguyen Thanh Truc noted as of the end of 2018, Korean businesses had poured more than 2.7 billion USD into some 600 projects in Binh Duong, including Kolon Industries (220 million USD), Kyungbang Vietnam Co. Ltd (over 219 million USD), and Kumho Tire Vietnam Co. Ltd (128 million USD).

Most RoK investors in Binh Duong have enjoyed effective production and business performance. Most recently, 27 Korean companies operating in various fields like cosmetics, nutritional supplements, electronic components, construction, and garment manufacturing have come to explore investment chances in the province.

Thanks to promotion efforts, the FDI inflow from the RoK is forecast to increase even more strongly in the time ahead, Truc added.-VNA