Hyosung to invest $6b in Vietnam businesses

Calling Vietnam a strategic base for its global expansion, South Korean textile giant Hyosung said Sunday it will invest up to $6 billion in the Southeast Asian country.

Since 2007, the company has invested $1.5 billion to operate manufacturing units of spandex and tire codes in Dongnai, an industrial city near Ho Chi Minh. With the new investment plan, Hyosung plans to start a chemical and heavy industry business in the country in addition to its textile business in the country, the company’s Vietnam office said.

The plan was unveiled during a meeting between Hyosung chief and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, on Thursday. 

“Hyosung which exports to 70 countries around the world is the largest (Korean) investor doing various businesses in north, central and southern parts of Vietnam and Hyosung Vietnam is a base for the company’s global expansion,” Cho Hyun Joon, chairman and CEO of Hyosung Corporation was quoted as saying by officials who attended the meeting.

“Not only spandex and tire cords, we also plan to expand businesses in the chemical and heavy industry sector.”

Hyosung is considering establishing a new production line in Quang Nam Province, central Vietnam, said the company in a statement, without elaborating on what specific area of business it plans to invest.

Since last year, the company invested a total of $1.3 billion in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, southern Vietnam, to establish manufacturing units of polypropylene, a separate facility for dehydrogenation process to get high purity propylene as well as liquefied petroleum gas storage tanks.

The planned plant in Vietnam is expected to replace Hyosung’s existing polypropylene production line in South Korea. The company plans to produce polypropylene pipes, high value-added products, at its plant in Ulsan, instead, to secure cost competitiveness.

According to local reports, the Vietnamese premier has suggested Hyosung chief to join as a strategic investor of the nation’s electricity transformer factory.

With Hyosung’s technology know-how in electricity projects, Cho said that the company will forge partnership with Vietnamese manufacturers of power transformers and transfer related technologies to help the country become an exporter of the product.

The chairman also suggested Hyosung’s capability in information technology in electronic payment, fintech and automated teller machines.

Cho was meeting the Vietnamese leader for the second time since their first meeting in 2016.

Since mid-2000s, the chairman has been leading the company’s foray into Vietnam as a strategic location for producing Hyosung’s core products, the company added.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)