As part of Volkswagen’s electric vehicle (EV) push, its battery company PowerCo is investing C$7bn ($5.1bn) in its recently-announced gigafactory in Canada, according to a company announcement on April 21.

A statement released the same day by Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau states that the federal government and provincial government of Ontario, where the gigafactory will be located, is supporting the project by offering Volkswagen subsidies of between C$8bn and C$13.2bn. This is to match the US’s Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit, a tax incentive provided to EV battery plants in the Inflation Reduction Act. The government of Ontario will also provide $500m in direct incentives.

The factory in St Thomas will be VW’s first overseas gigafactory for cell manufacturing and will serve its EVs in the North American region. With production expected to begin in 2027, it aims to create up to 3000 direct jobs and tens of thousands more indirect jobs in the region.

Mr Trudeau said in the statement that this is part of the country’s “made-in-Canada plan”, which he said was about creating jobs and a strong economy that benefits future generations. “That’s what Volkswagen’s new electric vehicle battery plant in St Thomas – the largest manufacturing plant in the country once built – is all about. It’s a win for workers, for the community, and for the economy,” he said.

Vietnam invests in Cuba

Vietnam’s Thái Bình Corporation is launching two new investments in the Mariel Special Development Zone, Cuba’s only special economic zone, according to a Vietnamese government statement on April 22.

One is a joint venture with a local company to set up the Suchel-TBV laundry detergent factory which can meet 100% of the needs of Cuban consumers and exports to Latin American countries, Thái Bình chairman Trần Ngọc Thuấn said in the statement. The other is a 20-megawatt (MW) solar park, wholly owned by Thái Bình, which has plans to build another 1000 MW-worth of solar plants by 2030.

The announcement follows a strengthening of trade and economic relations between the communist states. In September last year, Cuban prime minister Manuel Marrero signed 10 agreements with Vietnam and cited renewable energy, tourism and food production as key sectors for the country to develop with the help of Vietnamese businesses, according to the Cuban News Agency.

Sri Lanka bets on Saudi FDI 
Sri Lanka is looking to attract more investment from Saudi Arabia as the Asian country tries to get its economy back on track, according to an interview Sri Lanka’s consul general in Jeddah gave on April 23.

Falah Alhabshi Mowlana told the English-language Saudi newspaper Arab News that Colombo is focused on the tourism and energy sectors. “[The] tourism sector is one of the best sectors that can attract Saudi investment … If the opportunities in Sri Lanka in this sector can be presented in a proper way to Saudi nationals that will immensely impact foreign direct investment to Sri Lanka,” he said.

Sri Lanka’s bid to attract foreign investment such as through the special economic zone Port City Colombo has been overshadowed by economic and political crises over the last year. “[Saudi Arabia] is the country that helped Egypt, Pakistan and so on during their economic depression. In this current situation, if Sri Lanka can attract Saudi investments it would play a huge role in the stability of the Sri Lankan economy,” Mr Mowlana said.

And finally: The White House has asked the South Korean government to urge its semiconductor firms not to fill shortfalls in China if Beijing bans US-based Micron from selling chips, according to an exclusive by the Financial Times.