Representatives of Đà Nẵng Investment Promotion Agency and the vehicle component solutions development centre (LG-VS) under Korean LG Electronics Việt Nam-Hải Phòng company sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on building the first R&D centre in the city and Việt Nam. — VNS Photo Công Thành

ĐÀ NẴNG — The central city’s Investment Promotion Agency (IPA) and the vehicle component solutions development centre (LG-VS) under Korean LG Electronics Việt Nam-Hải Phòng company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on building the first R&D centre in the city and Việt Nam.

Jung Seung Min, director of LG-VS, said the MoU would help the company develop the first R&D centre in Việt Nam and Đà Nẵng after introducing an office in Hà Nội in 2016.

LG-VS is the quickest foreign investor in Đà Nẵng as it accelerated the process of market studies and investment in a very short time, according to the director of the Đà Nẵng IPA, Huỳnh Thị Liên Phương.

Phương said the investment decision in Đà Nẵng 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 Hà Nội, HCM City and Đà Nẵng. Seven out of eight subsidiaries are manufacturing at Hải Phòng city’s Tràng Duệ Industrial Park.

The group sees Đà Nẵng as a key location for its R&D centre in the near future.

Korea is one of the top five foreign investors in Đà Nẵng, with 232 projects worth US$390 million.

Đà Nẵng 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 Đà Nẵng.

The South Korea Trade and Investment Agency (KOTRA) also opened its representative office in Đà Nẵng to promote investment and connections among Korean investors in 2018.

Korean tourists are the second largest segment of foreign tourist arrivals to Đà Nẵng 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 Đà Nẵng since 2014 with 12 flights from Korea to Đà Nẵng every week.

In 2013, TCIE Việt Nam company, a member of Malaysia’s Tan Chong Motor Group, opened the first locally-assembled Nissan car factory at the city’s Hòa Khánh 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