Samsung Electronics vice-chairman Lee Jae-yong (left) listens to Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc during a talk in Hanoi on Tuesday. YONHAP NEWS AGENCY
Vietnam will create optimal conditions for South Korea’s Samsung Electronics to invest in high technology projects, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said on Tuesday.
He made the pledge while hosting a reception in Hanoi for Samsung Electronics vice-chairman Lee Jae-yong, who is on a visit to Vietnam.
At the reception, the Phuc noted that Samsung’s commitments made at their previous meeting during his visit to South Korea last November have been effectively carried out, especially the start of construction of Samsung’s largest research and development (R&D) centre in Southeast Asia in Hanoi in March.
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the Korean conglomerate still maintains production and continues contributing to Vietnam’s development, he added.
Phuc informed his guest that the Vietnamese government has allowed Samsung’s affiliate in Ho Chi Minh City to transform into a for-export processing firm in the city’s Saigon Hi-Tech Park as per the request of the municipal People’s Committee, paving the way for the company to expand its scale in Vietnam and raise its global competitiveness.
Noting Samsung’s strengths in mobile phones, semiconductors and electronic appliances, with its mobile phones and electronic appliances manufacturing activities already thriving in Vietnam, Phuc voiced his hope that Samsung will invest in semiconductor production in Vietnam in the near future.
Noting that the domestication rate of Samsung products has been rising, Phuc urged the conglomerate to further help Vietnamese supporting enterprises take part in Samsung’s supply chain and R&D activities in Vietnam.
For his part, Lee expressed his gratitude to Vietnam for facilitating the entry of over 3,000 Samsung engineers and experts for smooth operations of its plants in the country.
He vowed that the Hanoi-based R&D centre will be operational by late 2022 as scheduled and will create jobs for 3,000 engineers, making it the main R&D stronghold of Samsung.
In addition to manufacturing, the conglomerate is teaming up with Vietnamese businesses in software development, he remarked.
Vietnam is currently Samsung’s largest manufacturing base abroad and the company is also the leading foreign direct investment (FDI) source in the country.
VIET NAM NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
