South Korea
One year after pledging to invest $100 million in the Songdo area in
Incheon (primarily to be near major customers Celltrion and Samsung
Biologics), 170-year-old German life sciences company Sartorius last
month committed to investing around $300 million through the end of 2024
in expanding its activities in South Korea. In Songdo, the company plans
to launch cell culture media production and to assemble sterile systems
for efficient and flexible manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals, among
other operations. “The development of the biopharmaceutical industry in
Asia and, in particular, South Korea, has entered a new phase
characterized by a high innovation and investment pace on the part of
our customers,” said Sartorius Executive Board Chairman and CEO Joachim
Kreuzburg. “With our significant investments in Songdo, we will be
increasing capacities, moving production operations closer to our
customers in the region and substantially accelerating our delivery
speed.” At the same time, the company pledge to invest €100 million at
its sites in Aubagne, Cergy and Lourdes, France, creating up to 400 new
jobs by 2025.
Spain
Austrian wood paneling company Kronospan will invest €180 million in a
new factory in the Catalunya Sud industrial estate in Tortosa
(Tarragona), representing the creation of 185 direct jobs and around
1,500 indirect jobs. The project, the largest foreign investment in
Terres de l’Ebre, was announced in October by Catalonia Minister of
Business and Work Roger Torrent, who said, “It will give a second life
to waste materials that were previously discarded. This project is 100%
sustainable and fully complies with the concept of the circular
economy.” According to Invest in Spain, Kronospan is investing in the
area to be closer to its customers there, gain more effective access to
the market in the south of France, and gain access to large urban and
industrial areas. Javier Macicior, general director of Kronospan Spain,
praised “the work done in collaboration with both the Catalan regional
government and the city of Tortosa” and noted that the plant is expected
to be operational by the end of 2022. He also said the new operation
“will need a whole cluster of complementary companies near the factory
in order to be more competitive.” Kronospan is an Austrian multinational
dedicated to the manufacture and distribution of wood panels. Formed as
a company in 1897, Kronospan currently has a workforce of over 14,500
workers and more than 40 factories around the world.
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