South Korean electronics giants Samsung (KS:005930) and LG plan to invest billions more dollars in Vietnam, state media and the Vietnamese government said on Tuesday.
Samsung cut the number of smartphones it made in Vietnam twice this year because of weaker demand around the world.
State media in Vietnam said that Samsung Electronics (OTC: SSNLF), the biggest foreign investor in Vietnam, will put in another $2 billion, bringing its total investment in the Southeast Asian country to $20 billion.
Since the beginning, about half of Samsung’s smartphones have been made in Vietnam. This makes up nearly a fifth of the country’s total exports.
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After a meeting on Tuesday in Seoul between Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and the company’s CEO, Han Jong-hee, the Vietnam News Agency said that the new investment will make Vietnam even more important to Samsung as a place to make things.
When asked for a comment, Samsung didn’t answer right away.
In a separate statement, the Vietnamese government said that LG would invest another $4 billion in the country to make it a hub for making cameras for smartphones.
The report from state media and the statement from the government did not give any more information about the investments made by the two companies.
LG has invested $5.3 billion in Vietnam so far to make things like electronics, cameras, and car parts. When asked for a comment, the company did not respond right away.
Vietnam and South Korea said on Tuesday that they had improved their relationship to a “comprehensive strategic partnership,” which Vietnam has only had with China, Russia, and India so far.
The two countries want to increase their trade from $78 billion last year to $100 billion next year and $150 billion a year by 2030.
In the last 10 years, Vietnam has become one of the best places for electronics companies to make things, but this year, production has been cut because of a drop in demand around the world.
