Vietnam attracts investments in electronics from China, South Korea

Vietnam attracted a wave of foreign investments in electronics in 2022, with a project belonging to South Korea's Sangshin Electronics in the central province of Quang Tri the latest to be announced.

Sangshin Electronics Quang Tri factory, fully invested by Sangshin Electronics Co. Ltd, is 90% complete. The 19,721-square-meter facility in Dong Ai Tu Industrial Cluster, Trieu Phong district has an annual design capacity of 4.8 million noise filter sets, 27 million induction coils, and 82 million plastic parts.

This is the second South Korean-invested project in the province, after one of Poong In Vina Co., Ltd., said Nguyen Duc Tan, head of the Quang Tri investment, trade and tourism promotion agency.

The project is set to enter full operation in May 2023 in the first phase, after a three-month pilot run. It is scheduled to begin second phase construction in April 2024 and enter operation in January 2025.

The country has recorded some big investments in electronics in 2022.

China

Goertek, a key supplier of Apple, added $400 million to its manufacturing facility in the central province of Nghe An in January 2022. The Chinese firm also invested an additional $306 million in its electronics factory in the northern province of Bac Ninh in March.

In late December 2022, Goertek executives had a meeting with Bac Ninh authorities to discuss provincial support for the firm to build an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) factory.

Hong Kong-invested Chilisin Electronics Vietnam Co.Ltd poured $73.7 million into its facility in VSIP Hai Phong Industrial Park in January. As a result, the firm, a supplier of Apple and Samsung, raised its investment in Vietnam to $170.2 million.

Everwin Precision Hong Kong Co. Ltd. started the construction of a $200 million electronic parts factory in Nghe An in October. It is designed to turn out 270 million products per annum, and the manufacturer - a supplier of components for Apple, Xiaomi and Huawei - plans to export them all. Its main products will include electronic components and parts, wires and cables, and plastic parts for cars.

In the same month, Nghe An province approved in principle a foreign-invested project worth $150 of million known as Luxshare-ICT (Nghe An) 2 in October. Invested by Luxshare - ICT (Nghe An ) Limited, the project will make electronics parts at the VSIP Nghe An Industrial Park with a designed capacity of 74 million products a year.

In February 2022, the northern province of Thai Binh witnessed the construction of two major electronics projects. Of these, Taiwan-invested Lotes Vietnam Company Limited poured $120 million into a factory to manufacture 78.88 million computer RAM connectors and 12 million cables a year for Intel, Samsung, Sony, and others.

Compal Electronics, a supplier to Apple, Amazon, and Dell, signed a deal to lease 40 hectares of land in Thai Binh province for its new $260 million investment in Vietnam in December 2022. The facility's annual capacity will include 2.1 million smartwatches, 70,000 cable modems, 100,000 wireless wi-fi routers, 10,000 5G network frequency modules, 1.1 million Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and 1.25 million tablets, among others.

Liteon, a world-leading Taiwanese provider in optoelectronics and power management, inaugurated the second phase of its manufacturing facility in Hai Phong in November in a bid to speed up its global diversified operations. Its products are supplied to global electronics manufacturers like Amazon, Asus, IBM, Fuji Xerox, Kyocera, Lenovo, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, Sharp, and Sony.

South Korea

Ohsung Vina Thai Binh Company Limited, under South Korea’s Ohsung, invested $40 million in building an electronic item factory in Thai Binh province. The construction of the project commenced in February 2022. The plant will manufacture power generators, rotors, electrical items, TVs and display parts, with an annual capacity of 149 million products.

South Korean electronics giant Samsung is set to add $2 billion into Vietnam, raising its total investment in the country to $20 billion, Samsung Electronics CEO Han Jong-hee said to Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc during Phuc’s South Korea visit in December 2022.

Solum Electronics Vietnam received an amended investment certificate from Vinh Phuc province in November to expand its investment from $110 million to $155 million. Following the expansion, the factory will manufacture 360.96 million electronic components and telecom products per year, earning an expected post-tax profit of $10 million a year on monthly revenues of $55 million.

Samsung Electronics' unit in Ho Chi Minh City’s Saigon Hi-Tech Park was permitted to add $841 million to its capital, totaling an investment of $2.84 billion. Samsung Electronics HCMC CE Complex (SEHC), is Samsung Electronics Co.’s second-largest manufacturing site worldwide for TV screens and home electronics, after its largest in Mexico.

Samsung Electronics inaugurated its largest Southeast Asia research and development center in Hanoi in December 2022, meaning an elevation of the importance of Vietnam not only as a manufacturing hub but also a center for research activities. The newest center, worth $220 million, is directly under the parent firm Samsung Electronics.

In Vietnam, Samsung Electronics operates smartphone, TV, display panel, and home appliances factories in HCMC, and the northern provinces of Bac Ninh and Thai Nguyen.