Japanese staffing agency UT Group Co. will buy a 51 percent stake in a new Vietnamese staffing provider to capitalize on the growing demand for workers in Vietnam, amid increasing production shifts from China.

Green Speed Joint Stock Co., planned to be established by March in the southern province of Binh Duong, north of the financial capital of Ho Chi Minh City, will be the Tokyo-based firm's sole overseas subsidiary, a UT Group spokesman told NNA on Friday.

UT Group, a firm focusing on staffing service for manufacturers, will inject 256.9 billion dong ($11 million) to 378.9 billion dong, depending on the performance of the Vietnamese firm, to buy 300,900 shares by April, according to a UT Group statement released Friday.

Green Speed Joint Stock Co. will be a holding company which wholly owns two local staffing firms, Green Speed Co. and Hoan Nhan Co. Green Speed Co. has supplied more than 13,000 workers in the country, mainly to manufacturers, the statement said.

Japanese and South Korean companies have moved production bases to Vietnam from China, where personnel costs have risen and the U.S-China trade row has hit the economy, it said.

UT Group has provided manufacturers in Japan with management services for about 1,000 Vietnamese trainees.

It now aims to secure work for Vietnamese trained in Japan when they return to their home country, according to the spokesman. (NNA/Kyodo)

==Kyodo

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