Samsung plans hi-tech project in Thai Nguyen

In a Government Office dispatch signed this Tuesday, the Prime Minister asked relevant ministries to help Thai Nguyen Province accelerate verification and certification procedures so that Samsung can timely carry out its project.

A source told the Daily that Samsung last month signed a contract to lease 100 hectares in Yen Binh Industrial Park in Thai Nguyen’s Pho Yen District for development of its new project. Under the 49-year leasing contract, the lessor will hand over land in two phases but will finish the handover within this year.

Earlier, Samsung had made a proposal to the authorities of Thai Nguyen concerning the establishment of a wholly foreign-invested export-processing company. This move is aimed at building a factory for producing, processing and assembling cell phones and hi-tech electronics products in the province.

The sum that Samsung will invest in this project has not been revealed. However, it may be larger than the amount it spends on the operational project in Bac Ninh.

The technology complex project of Samsung in Bac Ninh has lured 53 satellite companies into Vietnam along with 50,000 workers. After four years of operation, the project achieved a capacity of 11 million products per year and a total export value of $12.6 billion in 2012, nearly doubling the figure in 2011.

Samsung currently has 28,000 employees and intends to recruit an additional 10,000 this year, according to the Government web portal.

When the second project of Samsung in Thai Nguyen starts operations, Vietnam will become its largest center for production of handheld devices for export in the world.

Samsung initially planned to spend $670 million on its Bac Ninh-based project. In November last year, the Bac Ninh Industrial Zones Authority granted the company an investment certificate for the second phase of its project, with investment capital spurred to $1.5 billion.

As such, Samsung needs an additional 40 hectares in Yen Phong Industrial Park to transform the current factory into a technology complex. In the second phase, it will produce not only cell phones, but also electronics and telecom products for export.

Samsung’s investment expansion and establishment of a research and development center is expected to raise its revenue to $20 billion and attract some 300 satellite companies, according to the authorities of Bac Ninh.