South Korean chaebol Samsung is looking at expanding its footprint in Vietnam, by investing in new sectors, including energy. The announcement came after a meeting between the Vietnam Ministry of Communications and Samsung Vietnam officials.

In 2014, Samsung group's exports from Vietnam reached USD 26.3 billion, which represented 17.5% of Vietnam's total exports. Samsung has already invested more than USD 13 billion across different projects in Vietnam.

"Following the success of Samsung Electronics in Vietnam, other units of the group are keen on expanding their operations in the country. These include the energy and insurance industries and they are studying to kick off investments," Samsung Vietnam General Director Han Myoung Sup said in a statement.

Elaborating on Samsung's electronics operation in Vietnam, Han said, its factories' workforce in Bac Ninh and Thai Nguyen has reached more than 110,000.

Samsung is also looking at increasing its Hanoi R&D centre engineering staff from 1,400 to 5,000.

"Samsung's R&D centre is an example to show other multinational investors that investment in R&D is a must-have element to grow sustainably," Minister of Communications Nguyen Bac Son said.

Samsung is also spending another USD 3 billion to expand its Samsung display plant in Bac Ninh.

"Vietnam has become Samsung's largest overseas production hub. Its investment projects in the country are over USD 13 billion," Dang Xuan Quang, deputy director of the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, said.

The total investment made by South Korean companies in Vietnam has reached USD 39.16 billion, making it the largest foreign investor in the country. With the Vietnam Korea Free Trade Agreement signed in May, the economic ties between the two countries are expected to grow even more, with total trade between the two expected to reach USD 70 billion by 2020.

By fuelsandlubes.com

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