LG Electronics sets up 1st global R&D center in Indonesia

South Korean home appliance giant LG Electronics Inc. opened its first overseas research and development center in Indonesia on Thursday to accelerate its TV production and sales in Asia.

The R&D center is located in Cibitung, 3.5 kilometers from LG’s TV manufacturing facilities and 40 kilometers east of its sales office in Jakarta.

LG aims to strengthen its Indonesian business by operating the lab, plant and sales office in the region. The R&D center aims to develop new TV models targeting global markets and enhance price competitiveness through localization.

The lab also plans to increase the number of employees to 500 by 2025 and boost local recruitment through academic-industrial partnerships there.

The home appliance giant has expanded its Indonesian business in recent years. It relocated two out of its six major TV production lines from Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province in Korea to Cibitung in 2020.

The company manufactures most of its TVs, excluding some signature lines like StandbyME, in Indonesia and sells the products in Asian countries.

LG will strive to locally optimize its business operations while offering world-class quality and delivery services at competitive prices, LG Electronics President and Chief Executive Cho Joo-wan said during his visit to Jakarta in April of this year.

Write to Jeong-Soo Hwang at hjs@hankyung.com

Jihyun Kim edited this article.