CJ Group to invest US$500m in Vietnam

South Korea’s CJ Group will invest US$500 million (Bt17.5 billion) in the three key Vietnamese sectors of agriculture, entertainment and logistics in 2016.

The company's total investment in the country over the past 20 years was $400 million.

It will increase its investment in agriculture through mergers and acquisitions and basic investment in the value chain.

Chang Bok Sang, the group's chairman and general director, said the firm had bought 4 per cent of the shares of state-run Vissan, Vietnam's leading foodstuff processor.

Agriculture has been the group's strength, with about half of its investment in Vietnam being in the sector. 

It aims to invest heavily in Vietnam until 2020, with it only investing more in China. -Viet Nam News

Lao province Champassak to legalise foreign workers

Champassak authorities in Laos will register foreigners and issue them with temporary work visas in a bid to regulate the increasing number of undocumented migrant workers in the province. 

At present, there are more than 2,000 foreign workers in Champassak, including illegal workers who entered as tourists but have subsequently found work there and stayed on without legal documentation. 

The provincial authorities began registering migrant workers to address the issue of illegal workers while ensuring social order and protecting workers' rights in anticipation of the Asean Economic Community coming into full effect at the beginning of this year. 

Most of the workers came from Vietnam and China, an official with the provincial Labour and Social Welfare Department said. 

Department director Khamsay Mueanluang told Vientiane Times on Friday that his staff would work closely with the provincial police to register about 200 migrant workers this year, up on last year’s figure of 100. 

The migrant workers will pay an obligatory fee of 300,000 kip (Bt2,600) for three months or one million kip for a one-year visa to allow them to work in the province. 

Khoa Le

Source: The Nation