Hoya Corp., a Japanese manufacturer of optical glass, said 1 June 2004 that it plans to set up a plant to make LCD panels in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi province, South Korea.
The company said that it had r…
Hoya Corp., a Japanese manufacturer of optical glass, said 1 June 2004 that it plans to set up a plant to make LCD panels in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi province, South Korea. The company said that it had reached an agreement with the Gyeonggi provincial government on 29 May 2004. The plant is scheduled to become operational at the end of 2005. According to the Japanese manufacturer, the USD 40 million plant will be located within the foreign industrial zone in Pyeongtaek. The provincial government and the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy said the site for the plant will be provided for free. Moreover, the company will pay no corporate taxes for the first seven years and the taxes will be reduced by 50% for an additional three years. “The plant in Pyeongtaek will be the production line for seventh and eighth generation liquid panels, leading technologies of the future,” said a Hoya official. “It will be equipped with a production system and research facilities for state-of-the-art, next generation technologies.” The Japanese company, which is 50% owned by foreign investors, has a fifth generation production line in Taiwan. Analysts say the company chose Korea for its seventh generation line so that it could provide a steady supply to Samsung Electronics, with which it has a business relationship.