Japanese Hoya Invests $300 million in HDD Disk Platter Factory in Laos

This article was published on February 12, 2019 by Xinhua.

The Japanese optical glass maker Hoya Corporation is investing over $300 million to build a new manufacturing facility in Laos to produce disk platters for HDDs.

It held an official ceremonial groundbreaking for Hoya Laos Co., Ltd. in the Saysettha Development Zone (SDZ) in Lao capital Vientiane last Friday, SDZ officials told Xinhua on Tuesday.

The SDZ, included into the early harvest list of China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, is jointly established by Lao and Chinese governments. Currently, there are a total of 56 companies investing in the SDZ, worth about $1 billion, while most of the investors come from China, Japan and Thailand

Hoya has already several disk plants, one in Thailand and four in Vietnam.

The purpose of the new factory is to support the future growth of memory disk. Production at the new plant will start at the beginning of 2020. When the factory is complete it will feature manufacturing capabilities and technologies.

Laos is a location for the company to set up its new manufacturing facility and Hoya Laos will create over 4,000 jobs in Laos.

Memory glass for HDD drives is found not only in notebook computers, but also the data centers of cloud, IoT storage.

“The government of Laos, especially Lao Ministry of Planning and Investment, is actively trying to improve mechanisms, measures, regulations and policies to facilitate and accelerate proceedings for investors and business operators in Laos,” said Minister of Planning and Investment Souphanh Keomixay.

“In representing the government, we will always provide cooperation and assistance to companies building factories so they can fulfil their plans and run a successful business operation in Laos,” he added.