Samsung to increase Vietnam investment to $20B

By Hoai Thu December 6, 2022 | 01:45 am PT

Employees make their way to work at the Samsung factory in Thai Nguyen province, north of Hanoi, Vietnam October 13, 2016. Photo by Reuters

South Korean electronics giant Samsung announced plans Tuesday to increase its investment in Vietnam from $18 billion to $20 billion.

"Samsung has clear goals to implement projects in Vietnam effectively. We want to invest in developing new, young human resources, and promote research in artificial intelligence and big data, " Samsung Electronics vice chairman and CEO Han Jong-hee said while meeting with visiting Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Seoul on Tuesday.

Phuc encouraged Samsung to continue investing in auxiliary industries and smart technology, with a goal of building research and development centers in Vietnam.

Samsung’s new Research and Development Center in Vietnam has been completed and will soon come into operation, focusing on research on phones, computers, and network systems, Vietnam News Agency quoted Han as saying.

In upcoming big fairs, Samsung will exhibit leading hi-tech products and solutions, and if there are partners, the firm will manufacture them in Vietnam, he said.

Samsung Electronics Vietnam reported export turnovers of $65.5 billion in 2021, helping turn Vietnam into a global smartphone manufacturing hub.

The Vietnamese president also met Tuesday with Hyosung chairman Cho Hyun Joon, who said the South Korean industrial group has invested $3.5 billion in Vietnam.

Then Phuc met with New Korea Development Bank (KDB) chairman Kang Seog Hoon, who said the South Korean lender will soon launch new financial services in Vietnam as part of its expansion into its Southeast Asian neighbors.