Kurz Group, a major German company in hot-stamping and thin film technology, is investing US$40 million into its inaugural project in Vietnam, reflecting the generally bullish outlook German companies have for the country.

The Kurz project involves the construction of a plant on 12 hectares in the central province of Binh Dinh that will be capable of supplying 15 million square metres of hi-tech film and coating products a year, according to the provincial administration.

Coatings manufactured by Kurz are applied to carrier foils and used for a wide variety of products, such as automotive components, cell phones, TVs, washing machines, furniture, packaging, books, textiles, bottle labels and bank cards.

The facility is scheduled to start operations in the second quarter of 2023, according to the local government that granted Kurz its investment licence; and the plant is the first foreign-invested project to be located in the province’s Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP), which covers up to 1,425 hectares in the Nhon Hoi Economic Zone.

VSIP, a leader in the development of integrated townships and industrial parks across Vietnam, is a joint venture company set up in the southern industrial province of Binh Duong in 1996 as a partnership between Becamex IDC, the province’s largest corporation, and a Singapore consortium led by Sembcorp Development.

Kurz is not alone among companies bullish on the development prospects that Vietnam offers. Up to 55% of surveyed German companies in the country have expressed confidence that the country will see positive development next year, according to the AHK World Business Outlook Fall 2021, released by the Delegate of German Commerce and Industry in Vietnam (AHK Vietnam) on November 10.

As many as 83% of the respondents say they will continue to invest in expanding production or upgrading their facilities in the next 12 months. And 33% have plans to recruit more workers to serve their business operations in the country. However, as the report notes, travel restrictions and issues relating to supply chains and logistics worldwide are major challenges to the growth of German companies in Vietnam.