Hyosung sees Vietnam as foreign hub of production

Hyosung Chairman Cho Hyun-joon, left, discusses the company’s business in Vietnam with the country’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Thursday. [HYOSUNG GROUP]

Hyosung Group plans to focus on Vietnam as its foreign manufacturing base, the company said Sunday.

Chairman Cho Hyun-joon recently traveled to Vietnam and met with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Thursday. This is their second meeting since 2016.

Apart from Cho expressing his will to expand investment in production facilities there, the two also discussed potential business opportunities in Vietnam, where rapid economic growth has created a need to upgrade the country’s infrastructure.

The plan is to make more investments so that Vietnam will be able to produce all of Hyosung’s business portfolio, on top of the fiber and industrial components it currently produces there.

Chemical and heavy industries are fields that Hyosung is on the way to establish manufacturing lines in Vietnam. Since last year, the company has been raising investments for a $1.3 billion project to build a polypropylene factory in the south of Vietnam. Polypropylene is a frequently used type of plastic. Hyosung is also looking into establishing another office in the Quang Nam province.

Hyosung has operated a local office and manufacturing complex in Vietnam’s Nhon Trach since 2007.

BY SONG KYOUNG-SON [song.kyoungson@joongang.co.kr]