HO CHI MINH CITY/SEOUL -- LG Display plans to expand manufacturing facilities of organic light-emitting diode displays (OLED) in Vietnam. It will invest $750 million for its operations in the port city of Hai Phong in northern Vietnam near China, LG told Nikkei Asia.
The capital infusion brings the South Korean company's accumulated investment in the communist country to $3.25 billion.
In addition to China and South Korea, Vietnam is a major production center for LG Display, which uses the country to make OLEDs for TVs, plastic OLED screens for mobile phones and some liquid-crystal displays.
LG Display reported October-December revenue of 7.46 trillion won ($6.74 billion), up 16% from the same period in 2019. It said global work-from-home trends drove demand for its TV and information technology products.
The LG Display's facilities will be the largest foreign-invested project in Hai Phong. The local government says on its website that it will create 5,000 jobs, with construction to take place from March to May. Other factories in the city include those run by LG Display's sister company LG Innotek and Pegatron, both of which are suppliers for Apple.
The LG Display's expansion adds to the LG group's overall investment in Vietnam, after LG Electronics said in 2020 it would build a second research and development center in the Southeast Asian country.
Vietnam has attracted investors shifting from China because of rising costs there and trade risks, and this influx is continuing during the global boom in electronics purchases amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Vietnam's electronics exports jumped 56% between January and November 2020, according to the General Statistics Office, as Americans and Europeans stuck at home amid COVID-19 lockdowns bought more computers and other devices from the country.
