Make Vietnam your largest strategic base, PM urges Samsung

By Minh Nga   November 1, 2018 | 05:04 am PT
Make Vietnam your largest strategic base, PM urges Samsung
The factory of Samsung Electronics Vietnam in Thai Nguyen Province in northern Vietnam. Photo by VnExpress/Le Dang
PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc has suggested that Samsung expands its scale to make Vietnam the group’s largest strategic base.

Receiving Lee Jae Yong, vice chairman of Samsung Group, in Hanoi on Tuesday, Phuc said Samsung should not just stop at making Vietnam its largest smartphone production base.

He suggested the South Korean giant expands its business to other major fields like semiconductors, infrastructure and energy in Vietnam rather than focusing mainly on manufacturing and assembling electronic products, as it has been doing so far.

A statement posted on the government’s website cited the prime minister as saying that Samsung should work towards building its largest strategic base in the country.

He also wanted Samsung to continue providing practical support in terms of training and technology transfer to assist Vietnam’s supporting industry.

As Samsung is making a significant contribution to developing e-government in South Korea, the PM suggested it does the same for Vietnam.

He promised that the Vietnamese government will keep creating favorable conditions for Samsung’s operations in the country.

Samsung Electronics Co. has invested $17.3 billion in eight factories and one research and development center in Vietnam, creating jobs for more than 160,000 locals.

Exports from Samsung Electronics’ factories in Vietnam totaled $54 billion last year, it said.

In April, CEO Koh Dong-jin of Samsung Electronics told PM Phuc that the company was determined to further expand production in Vietnam, Reuters reported.

He said Samsung will recruit more Vietnamese employees and develop electronics in smart cities in Bac Ninh province in the northern region and other places.

Samsung is the largest foreign investor in Vietnam and accounts for around a quarter of the country’s total export revenue. It operates two cellphone factories in Bac Ninh and Thai Nguyen provinces in northern Vietnam.

The factories produce around half of all the cellphones that Samsung supplies to the global market.

 
 
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