Samsung exploring raft of major investments in Vietnam

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The information was released via the government portal yesterday after Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai met with Samsung’s Global Strategy Office CEO Shin Kim.

During talks with the Vietnamese leader, Kim expressed Samsung’s desire to further engage in large-scale investments in Vietnam.

Other projects that have attracted Samsung’s attention are a shipyard in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa and several civil construction projects.

These projects collectively are valued at billions of dollars, and being explored in various degrees, reported a Samsung source.

Kim’s visit to Vietnam affirms Samsung’s continued commitment to its gargantuan investments plan for the country, first announced by Ha Chan Ho, a senior advisor to Samsung and former Korean Ambassador to Vietnam in a discussion with Vietnam’s Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh early this year.

Last year Samsung C&T (Construction and Trade) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Planning and Investment on co-operation in infrastructure development. The aforementioned projects were also mentioned at the time.

Samsung Heavy Industries has reportedly bought a 50 per cent stake in a shipyard based in Cam Ranh port in Khanh Hoa province which belongs to Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Corporation.

Samsung currently operates three manufacturing facilities in Vietnam, one of them – Samsung Electronics Vietnam (SEV) –invested $2.5 billion and is one of the group’s largest handset manufacturing bases in the world.

It is reportedly one of the most successful foreign-invested projects in the country at present.

Last year, SEV, based in northern Bac Ninh province, posted $23.9 billion in export value amounting to 18 per cent of Vietnam’s total, with about $7.6 billion in added value, and paying VND1 trillion ($47.6 million) in corporate income tax to the provincial budget.

As well as handset manufacturing, SEV is also operating a vacuum cleaner manufacturing line and is reportedly considering building a laptop factory in the near future.

Samsung Electronics Vietnam Thai Nguyen (SEVT) production complex, with $2 billion in investment, started operating in early March. It exported $90 million in its first 20 days.

From now until year-end, SEVT is planning to attract 16,000 more workers to reach a capacity of eight million units per month.

Samsung’s third factory in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City-based Samsung Vina is smaller in size but has been operating for 18 years.

Samsung Vina, formerly a joint venture with local TIE, became a wholly-owned foreign business last year.