Samsung, Vietnam in talks over $3bn mobile phone factory

Smartphone giant already has $2bn plant in the country

Samsung Electronics has applied for a licence to open a new $3bn smartphone factory in northern Vietnam, near an existing facility.

Sammy is planning to build the plant in Thai Nguyen province, where it already has a $2bn phone factory that it opened in March, Dau Tu newspaper originally reported.

In an emailed statement, the company confirmed that it was in talks with the government for “long-term investment plans”.

“The $3bn investment figure is the maximum amount that can be invested during the period, which is still under discussion with the Vietnamese government,” a company spokesperson said.

“There are further details to be fixed before the final approval of the license, and therefore, the specific schedule and size of the investment are still not yet decided,” the spokesperson added.

Vietnam is one of a number of countries seeing renewed tech investment as electronics firms try to compete with low-priced Chinese rivals. According to Dau Tu, Samsung has already invested $11.2bn in Vietnam for projects including smartphone, display, and components factories. ®