HCMC – South Korea’s Samsung has said it is planning to manufacture transistor grids and open a research and development (R&D) center in Vietnam.
Speaking at a meeting in Hanoi on August 5 with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Roh Tae-Moon, CEO of Samsung, said the conglomerate is preparing to make transistor grids in Vietnam on a trial basis. The product will be mass-produced in July 2023 at the Samsung Electro-Mechanics Vietnam in Thai Nguyen Province.
The firm will inaugurate an R&D center in Hanoi City in late 2022 or early 2023. The center, which is some 85% complete, will serve not only the Vietnamese market but also the Southeast Asian one, the local media reported.
Samsung will help 50 Vietnamese firms improve their competitiveness by developing smart plants and boosting partnerships with universities and research centers, said the Samsung leader.
He also proposed Vietnam take workforce training into account to increase the number of high-skilled workers at enterprises.
Speaking at the meeting, the prime minister said South Korea is Vietnam’s third largest trade partner, after China and the United States. In 2021, two-way trade beteween the two nations reached US$78 billion, accounting for 11.6% of Vietnam’s total export-import value.
In addition, South Korea is the biggest investor in Vietnam, with over 9,380 operational projects worth nearly US$80 billion.
The Government commits to creating favorable conditions and improving the business climate to encourage foreign investors, especially Samsung, to do business in Vietnam, according to the prime minister.
The Government leader also called on Samsung to act as a link to connect South Korean firms with local businesses to diversify supply chains in the coming time.
In the first half of the year, Samsung Vietnam posted US$34.3 billion in export revenue, up 18% year-on-year. In 2022, the firm looks to book US$69 billion from exports and will continue expanding its operations in Vietnam.
