fDi Projects of the Year 2018: Youngone's Vietnam factory takes crown

South Korea-based garment and textile manufacturer Youngone Corporation created the largest project globally (by number of jobs created) between September 2017 and August 2018, according to data from greenfield investment monitor fDi Markets. Youngone will create 8000 jobs in Soc Trang, Vietnam with the construction a new 150,000-square-metre garment factory. Youngone’s project is also Project of the Year for Asia-Pacific.

Singapore-based Flex invested in projects in India and Mexico, which rank second and joint fourth, respectively. The contract electronics manufacturer announced in June 2018 the creation of more than 6600 jobs in a Rs5.85bn ($85.18m) manufacturing project in Andhra Pradesh state, India. Flex also takes fDi’s Project of the Year for Latin America and the Caribbean for creating 5000 jobs at its hi-tech sports footwear production facility in Zapopan, Mexico. The $39.5m project is representative of the company’s commitment to Mexico, where it employs about 44,000 people.

China-based display manufacturer Holitech Technology has placed third in fDi’s Projects of the Year with a $200m project in Tirupati, India that will create 6000 new jobs. The plant will be based on 8 hectares of land, with its first phase being operational in the first quarter of 2019, and second phase scheduled to be online before the fourth quarter of 2021. It will produce camera modules, touchscreen panels, thin film transistors, flexible printed circuits and fingerprint modules exclusively for China-based mobile phone company Xiaomi. Output will be 50 million components a year in phase one, and 100 million units of each component by the end of phase two.

China-based Amoi Electronics, Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision and US-based Conduent rank joint fourth in fDi’s job creation index. In February 2018, Amoi Electronics announced the creation of 5000 jobs as part of its $10m smartphone manufacturing facility in Uganda. The project was also named Africa’s Project of the Year. 

Hon Hai Precision’s subsidiary, Foxconn, a contract manufacturer of electronics, is investing Rs3bn to expand its manufacturing operations in Chennai, India, by 198,296 square metres. The project will create 5000 new jobs. 

Business process services company Conduent announced the creation of 5000 new jobs with an investment of Rs3bn to open a new development centre in Vishakhapatnam, India. Significantly, 2000 of these new jobs will be in the emerging fintech industry.

Denmark-based Haldor Topsoe ranks eighth in the top 10 Projects of the Year, with the creation of 4000 new jobs at its new $2bn fertiliser plant in Soyo, Angola. With the establishment of a new manufacturing facility in the DMIC Integrated Industrial Township Greater Noida Freezone – expected to create 3950 jobs – China-based Haier Group has landed ninth place in the rankings with the project. 

Germany-based electronic component manufacturer PSZ is the final name in the top 10, creating 3500 new jobs in Bouhiar, Tunisia, with the opening of a new electronic cable manufacturing facility.