Vietnamese prime minister asks Samsung to open a chip plant

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, left, talks with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the government complex in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

The Vietnamese prime minister asked Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong to build a new semiconductor production line in the country during a meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Tuesday.

Multiple media outlets reported that Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Lee discussed Samsung’s business in the southeast Asian country at the government complex in Hanoi.

It is still unclear how Lee responded to the proposal, following a similar request last year when they met in Seoul.

The prime minister pledged a wide range of incentives if Samsung decides to establish a new chip factory in Vietnam.

Still, Lee said that he considers Vietnam Samsung's main research and development (R&D) base as well as a manufacturing hub as the electronics maker started constructing a new research center there.

He said that the Hanoi-based R&D facility will be operational by late 2022 as scheduled and will create jobs for 3,000 engineers.

Lee is scheduled to visit a home appliance production complex in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday.

Vietnam is home to two of Samsung’s smartphone plants, an appliance factory and an R&D center.

At the reception, Lee also thanked the Vietnamese government for granting visas to over 3,000 Samsung engineers despite Covid-19 border restrictions.

The latest trip follows Lee’s business trip to the Netherlands last week, where he met with high-ranking officials at semiconductor equipment supplier ASML to discuss cooperation on next-generation chip processing technology, known as extreme ultraviolet lithography.

BY PARK EUN-JEE [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]