Metaldyne to Invest $10 Million in South Korea

On April 16 in New York City, South Korean Minister of Knowledge and Economy Lee Eun-ho signed a memorandum of understanding with Metaldyne and four other U.S. businesses.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who was also at the Korean Investment Forum, encouraged additional businesses to take stock in Korea’s future.

“Korea will emerge as the most open and business-friendly country in the world,” said President Lee, continuing that Korea would become “the gateway to investment in East Asia” and “a key link in the world’s four largest economic zones.”

The agreement calls for Metaldyne to invest $10 million towards expanding its business in Pyeongtaek, South Korea over the next five years. The investment began this year with a building expansion project to make room for three new program launches at the facility over the next two years.

“These three programs are great opportunities for us to grow our business in a strategic region,” said Thomas Amato, chairman and CEO of Metaldyne and co-CEO of Asahi Tec. “We are committed to making sound investments with a focus on profitability.”

Metaldyne’s Pyeongtaek, Korea plant is one of the top performing manufacturing facilities in the industry, scoring the best CPPM rating of all 374 Hyundai Tier-1 suppliers in 2007. The facility is currently operating with over 1000 consecutive days without a lost time incident and over 13 months without a recordable incident.

Other businesses that signed the MOU were ProLogis, Kozar, Electronic Arts and Mattson.

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Metaldyne's facility in Pyeongtaek, South Korea