fDi Projects of the Year 2017: CFLD top for capital while Kinpo creates jobs

Capital investments of the year

China Fortune Land Development (CFLD) created the largest project globally (by capital investment) between September 2016 and August 2017, according to data from greenfield investment monitor fDi Markets. After some fits and starts, CFLD announced plans to spend $20bn to develop part of Egypt’s new capital east of Cairo. The company will develop and manage about 5600 hectares of land, including homes and offices and relevant infrastructure, as part of the second phase of the new capital project. CFLD’s investment was also named Project of the Year for Africa.

Saudi Basic Industries, a Saudi Arabia-based manufacturing company, has ranked joint second in Projects of the Year, with a $10bn project in the US. The company announced plans to establish a joint-venture petrochemical plant in Portland, Texas, with local company Exxon Mobil.

The $10bn facility will be located on 525 hectares of land and is scheduled to commence operations in 2024. It will produce components used to make polyester, anti-freeze, plastic bottles and other items and was also named one of North America’s Projects of the Year.

Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision Industry invested in projects in the US and China, which have been ranked joint second and fourth, respectively. Foxconn, a subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision Industry, plans to build a new facility for producing liquid-crystal display (LCD) panels in Racine County, Wisconsin. The company will invest $10bn in the 1860-square-metre facility, which will initially create 3000 jobs.

In December 2016, Foxconn announced plans to invest $8.8bn in an LCD TV panel factory in Guangzhou, China. The project, which ranked fourth in the Project of the Year ranking by capital investment, is in collaboration with Sharp, which will provide the manufacturing technology when production begins in 2019. The projects were also named one of North America's Projects of the Year and Asia-Pacific Project of the Year by capital investment.

Job creation investments of the year

New Kinpo Group, an electronics subsidiary of Taiwan-based Kinpo Group, announced plans to establish a new plant in the Philippines, which has been named as Project of the Year for job creation. The plant will be spread over 30 hectares and will create 7500 new jobs. The project was also named Asia-Pacific Project of the Year for job creation.

South Korea-based Hansoll Textile’s investment in Vietnam ranks second for job creation. The company’s subsidiary, UnisollVina, invested $50m to launch operations in the Giao Long Industrial Park, creating 5500 jobs. The firm is operating four workshops, equipped with 96 production lines, and aims to have 10 workshops, with 236 production lines and more than 16,000 workers by 2018.

A new factory at the Gemopolis Industrial Estate in Bangkok, Thailand, from Denmark-based jewellery company Pandora has ranked in third place for job creation. Construction began in June 2016 and the facility was scheduled to launch during the first quarter of 2018. The firm will create 5000 new jobs and with the expansion Pandora expects an increase of its total jewellery production capacity in Thailand, giving it the capability to produce more than 200 million pieces per year by the end of 2019.