Paju industrial park to expand

The size of a future industrial park in Paju, Gyeonggi province, will be double than what was originally planned, to 3.3 square kilometers (816 acres), to accommodate more parts contractors for LG.Philips LCD Co., a maker of liquid crystal displays, the Gyeonggi provincial office said yesterday. LG.Philips LCD Co., a joint venture of LG Electronics Co. and Philips Electronics NV of the Netherlands, is building flat-panel display plants in Paju. Sixty to 100 contractors are expected to move into the industrial park when LG.Philips LCD finishes plant construction in 2008. “Over 30 domestic and foreign parts manufacturers have said they want to move closer to where the LG.Philips LCD plant will be located,” said Lee Jae-yul, a senior official at the Gyeonggi provincial office. “We recently suggested to the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy that an additional 1.6-square-kilometer parcel of land be developed into an industrial park to accommodate demand.” Gyeonggi province originally designated a parcel covering 135,537 square meters for parts manufacturers out of 1.6 square kilometers allotted for the industrial park, but the province decided to develop bigger areas because of growing demand for factory sites. Components producers said they want to relocate next to the LG.Philips factory in a bid to cut transportation costs and deliver parts in a timely manner. LG.Philips also asked the Gyeonggi provincial office to prepare factory sites for its contractors. Some foreign companies have added themselves to the wish list for factory sites. Four Japanese-based equipment makers told Commerce Minister Yoon Jin-shik during his official visit to Japan last month that they intended to invest $100 million in the industrial park. “The government will build roads and water and electricity facilities for the area designated to be an industrial park,” a provincial official said. by Kim Sang-woo