Nghe An Fostering Investment Attraction from Korea

 

Due to these similarities, people of the two countries are quite friendly and many Vietnamese people have arrived in South Korea for working and in turn, many Korean businessmen have invested in Vietnam. In this context, Korean investors have been investing in Nghe An province.

 

First of all, it can be said that the Central region including Nghe An is luring foreign investors. Particularly, Nghe An gains advantages of mass lands, large population and labour force, very sound transportation infrastructure of which the roads is at the top of the North Central region, good communication system, ports, railways, aviation and especially, a banking system with more than 40 banks in the area. At this time, Nghe An only lacks a container port.

 

With great advantages, Nghe An is accelerating activities to lay a good foundation to attract investment from South Korea.

 

In 2008, the two provinces of Nghe An and Gyonggi (Korea) established friendship and cooperation. At the municipal level, Vinh City and Namyangju have started several exchange business delegations and study trips.

 

Especially, Vietnam- Korea College of Engineering Technology is regarded as one of the boosters right in Nghe An province helping improve relationship between Vietnam and South Korea. The college has received a total investment of US$7.3 million from the Korean Government since 1999; US$5 million in the first phase; US$2.3 million in the second phase; and expected estimation of US$6 million in the third phase.

 

After 14 years of implementation, Vietnam- Korea College of Engineering Technology has become a model vocational school in Vietnam and a good model for many other schools to learn and many foreign investors in Vietnam to visit. The college has provided long-term training courses with enrolment of 9,800 students, short-term training courses with participation of 1,700 students, Korean and English language training courses for labour exports with engagement of 6,700 students and training courses for labour exports for 4,500 workers. Up to now, the college has trained 15 outstanding trainees at provincial level, 10 outstanding trainees at national level and one student qualified for the Asian skill contest.

 

On 18 March, 2013, Mr Yun Wha-sub, Chairman of the Provincial Parliament of Gyeonggi province led a delegation to take a business trip to Nghe An and signed a cooperation agreement with the People's Committee of Nghe An. On behalf of the delegation, Chairman Yun Wha-sub invited the delegation of the Nghe An People's Committee to Gyeonggi on the nearest day. Promoting cultural exchange activities and reciprocal visits between Nghe An and Gyeonggi is one of the key factors to help Nghe An attract investment from South Korea.

In 2013, the Korean government has sponsored US$62,000 of ODA for Hai Binh community culture building project at Nghi Hai ward, in Cua Lo town through two organizations- Seoul International Friendship Organisations (SIFO) and Korea Association of University Women (KAUW) - South Korea. The project has a total investment of more than US$4 billion and the Korean government financed US$62,000, the charter capital of VND700 million is contributed by the People's Committee and other investors, donors and business people have donated the rest of VND2.2 billion. The project was constructed on June 5, 2013.

 

So far, Nghe An province has had 11 valid investment projects with registered capital of US$60.97 million, and more than 10,000 local workers are employed by Korean companies. These projects are spread across many areas such as electronics and telecommunications, textiles, tourism, agriculture, food, and marketing and investment consulting.

 

Among these projects, there are some high-tech projects such as: the manufacturing factory of components, equipment, Hitech BSE telecommunication electronics equipments by Hitech BSE Vietnam Electronics Co., Ltd. established in Nam Cam Industrial Park, Nghe An has total investment of US$30 million and production scale of 250 million products per year. Another project of manufacturing mobile speakers and other electronic components by the branch of EM TECH Company in Nghe An in Vietnam has US$3 million per year and 96 million product per year.

 

By this time, Nghe An has attracted other projects with investment from South Korean in the textile sector: i) Haivina Kim Lien garment factory has a total investment of US$5 million and total of 2,490 employees; ii) the manufacturing factory of leather and textile products of the Prex Vinh company has total investment of US$11.6 million; iii) the factory of readymade garments and costumes by Nam Sung Vina Co., Ltd. has a total investment of US$7 million and total 9.48 million products per year. iv) the factory of embroidered logo printed on the readymade costumes by With Vina Co., Ltd. has total investment of US$0.5 million, v) the factory of logo and packages for textile industry by the branch of Dae Hyun Vina Co., Ltd. in Nghe An has a total investment of US$0.07 million and total 25 million products per year.

 

Currently, to attract more Korean investors to invest in supporting industry, mechanics, electronics, refrigeration and other areas based on the strength of two sides, Nghe An is working with the Korean Embassy in Vietnam and KOTRA to plan a Korean investment promotion in Nghe An conference, scheduled on July 12, 2013 in Hanoi. At the conference, Nghe An and KOTRA will sign a cooperation agreement to promote Korean investment in Nghe An.

 

In addition, Korean companies in Nghe An have established Korean businessman club in Nghe An and has monthly meeting to exchange investment experiences in Nghe An.