Vietnam remains Samsung’s key hub for manufacturing, R&D

Vietnam is a key hub of Samsung for manufacturing and research & development (R&D) activities, a Samsung Vietnam delegation said at a press meeting on Wednesday.

Vietnam’s key role is demonstrated by the fact that Vietnamese staff directly participate in the R&D, manufacturing, and exporting of Samsung’s latest products, a representative said at the event hosted at Samsung Electronics Vietnam Thai Nguyen (SEVT) headquarters.

Key examples are Samsung’s latest flagship phones, namely Galaxy Z Flip 6, are produced by SEVT. Galaxy Z Fold 6, another Samsung flagship phone, is manufactured at Samsung Electronics Vietnam (SEV) in the neighboring province of Bac Ninh.

Those two products, along with other phones, are researched and developed by Samsung’s R&D center in Hanoi.

Samsung Vietnam also highlighted its strong support for staff, including 45 fully-furnished campuses with 5,300 rooms hosting 18,000 staff and 800 45-seat buses for workers commuting to work.

The company runs 14 canteens serving a total of 117,000 meals a day and 23,000 people at once. It also operates eight healthcare facilities with 190 hospital beds.

Samsung now operates six factories in Vietnam, one R&D center, and one retailing entity. Last year, the tech giant contributed $55.7 billion to Vietnam’s total export revenue. In 2023, the country earned an export turnover of $355.5 billion, down 4.4% year-on-year as external demand weakened, according to the General Statistics Office.

Earlier in August, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha called on Samsung to continue its pioneering role in Vietnam’s transition to a digital and green economy, at a meeting with general director of Samsung Vietnam Choi Joo Ho.

He also suggested foreign firms, including Samsung Vietnam, to propose the Vietnamese government measures to remove bottlenecks in the execution of the Direct Power Purchase Agreement (DPPA) rules, with a view to operating the electricity market in line with the market mechanism.

Samsung has so far invested $22.4 billion in Vietnam, Samsung executive chairman Lee Jae-yong told Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at a meeting in July.