Samsung eyes additional $2-bln investment in Vietnam

Korean electronics giant Samsung is set to add $2 billion into Vietnam, raising its total investment in the country to $20 billion, according to Samsung Electronics CEO Han Jong-hee.

The additional investment would go to advanced areas like artificial intelligence and big data, as well as developing human resources, Han said in a Tuesday meeting with Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Seoul.

Phuc showed his hope that Samsung would invest in support industries and the intelligent industry.

Samsung’s new research and development center in Vietnam, located in Hanoi, will make its debut soon, focusing on R&D for smartphones, computers, and networks.

The electronics giant has invested $220 million since March 2020 to build the R&D center, planning to inaugurate the new hub by the end of this year. The Korea Times reported on October 31 that Samsung Electronics executive chairman Lee Jae-yong is scheduled to pay a working visit to Vietnam late this year to seek new investment opportunities. His planned agenda includes launching the R&D center.

Samsung Electronics is the largest single foreign investor in Vietnam. It has for years produced about half or more of its smartphones in the country, where its Korean peer LG has so far invested $5.3 billion to make products like electronics, displays, home appliances, cameras, and car parts.

LG plans to add another $4 billion into Vietnam, LG Corp. vice chairman and CEO Kwon Bong-seok told the Vietnamese President on Monday, also in Seoul.

Vietnam and South Korea upgraded their relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership on Monday, expecting bilateral trade to reach $100 billion next year from $78.1 billion last year, and then to $150 billion a year by 2030.

South Korea is currently the biggest investor in Vietnam with total registered capital of $80 billion, according to Vietnamese government data.