S Korea's Phillips eyes EV, battery plant in northern Vietnam

South Korea’s Phillips is considering developing an electric vehicle (EV) and EV battery plant in Vietnam’s industrial province of Bac Ninh, said its chairman Bang Seung Ho.

The South Korean EV maker's products will hit the Vietnamese market soon, allowing Phillips to evaluate the potential of the local market for plant development, the executive told Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Nguyen Anh Tuan on Friday.

The factory’s products would be sold in Vietnam and exported to South Korea and globally, he noted.

The provincial Party chief, in response, pledged support for businesses and Phillips investing and operating in Bac Ninh.

Prior to the meeting, the Phillips mission had conducted a fact-finding trip to Gia Binh II Industrial Park in Gia Binh district.

Bac Ninh currently boasts 2,350 foreign-invested projects worth $28 billion from 41 countries and territories. South Korea takes the lead, with nearly 100 projects totaling $14.7 billion.

The province is home to two out of four major Samsung plants in Vietnam and other South Korean giants such as Intops, Hanwha Techwin, Amkor, Hana Micron, CrucialTec, and Hyosung.

During a visit to South Korea from June 27 to July 1, a delegation of Mai Linh Group, Vietnam’s leading taxi operator, led by its chairman Ho Huy, met with Bang Seung Ho. The two sides agreed to cooperate in distributing EV products in the Vietnamese market.

They also committed to establishing a joint manufacturing facility in Vietnam through technology transfer and supplying Phillips EVs to the Vietnamese market.

Mai Linh Group plans to build a plant or a joint production facility in Vietnam with the cooperation of Phillips through investment in technology and infrastructure.