UPDATE 1-Japan's Yazaki to invest $90 mln in Dominican Republic auto parts plant

(Adds details from statement)

Feb 21 (Reuters) - Japan's Yazaki Corporation will invest $90 million in an auto parts factory in Santiago de los Caballeros in northern Dominican Republic, the Caribbean country's government said on Wednesday.

The manufacturing plant will employ some 1,500 people in its initial phase, the government said.

Yazaki's North America chief Kenichi Fujisawa traveled to the Dominican Republic to meet with the country's president and industry minister, according to the statement, which added that Yazaki will make parts including electrical wires for carmakers in the United States.

In recent years, many Asian firms have been moving operations to Latin America, many to

Mexico

, part of a so-called

near-shoring trend

in the region, where companies move operations closer to the United States.

The Yazaki plant is set to be built in a designated free economic zone, and will initially span 12,000 square meters, though it could later be expanded to 100,000 square meters.

In the statement, Dominican officials said the investment showcased confidence in the Dominican Republic and its free economic zones, industrial parks subject to a different legal framework that also tout investment incentives. (Reporting by Sarah Morland; Editing by Anthony Esposito and David Alire Garcia)