LG, Samsung leaders accompany president Yoon in Vietnam visit

By VNA June 22, 2023 | 05:55 am PT

Samsung's plant in the northern province of Bac Ninh. Photo courtesy of Samsung Vietnam

Leaders of 205 Korean firms, including Samsung Electronics, SK, Hyundai Motor, LG, and Lotte, are accompanying President Yoon Suk Yeol during a state visit to Vietnam.

During the three-day visit starting Thursday, businesses of the two sides are expected to sign a number of cooperation deals as leading RoK manufacturers are seeking measures to ensure supply chains and expand exports.

On June 24, a Vietnam-RoK Business Forum will be held, gathering leaders of the two countries and a large number of businesses of both sides.

According to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the presence of the business delegation and leading billionaires of the RoK and the world in Vietnam brings a new hope for further growth between the two countries. All the five major RoK enterprises have made big investment in Vietnam and planned to expand the investment.

Samsung has announced its plan to inject US$3.3 billion in Vietnam, including $2 billion disbursed in projects in the northern province of Thai Nguyen and Ho Chi Minh City.

Meanwhile, in late 2022, LG revealed its plan to invest an additional $5 billion in Vietnam in the future, while Lotte is completing its Lotte Mall in Hanoi and constructing a Lotte Eco Smart area in Thu Thiem of HCMC.

In early September 2022, while attending the groundbreaking ceremony of the project, Lotte Chairman Shin Dong-bin said that Lotte Eco Smart Thu Thiem will mark the "starting point" for investment expansion activities of Lotte Group in Vietnam.

At the same time, SK is in the process of increasing its presence in Vietnam through large-scale investments in Masan and Vingroup. Hyundai Motor also operated Hyundai Thanh Cong No.2 Factory in the northern province of Ninh Binh at the end of last year.

The Foreign Investment Agency said that in the first five months of this year, Vietnam attracted 962 new FDI projects worth over $5.26 billion, up 66.4% year on year in the number of projects and 27.8% in value.

In the January-May period, the RoK was one of the largest investors of Vietnam, making up 17.4% of the number of the total projects and 25.2% of the investment value.

The agency held that foreign small- and medium-sized investors have remained confident about the Vietnamese investment environment, while larger ones are considering big investment in Vietnam amid the impacts of the global minimum tax policy which will be applied in 2024.