Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnamese Government highly appreciated investors fromthe Republic of Korea (RoK), including Samsung, for their efforts towards maintainingthe RoK’s position as the largest foreign investor in Vietnam for many years,said Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung.

TheVietnamese official made the statement at a reception for the new general directorof Samsung Vietnam, Choi Joo-ho, in Hanoi on February 26, during which hepraised the contributions made by Samsung Vietnam to promoting the developmentof the country’s support industry.

Samsungis one of the enterprises most notable for encouraging and facilitatingVietnamese enterprises’ participation in value chains, he said.  

While affirming that it is Vietnam’s strategy to prioritise the development ofsupporting industries, Deputy PM Dung proposed that RoK firms in general, and especiallySamsung, continue to play a leading role in pushing Vietnamese support enterprisesfor joint development.

Hesaid in order to develop the support industry, the role of leading companies isvery important as they are both customers and facilitators for enterprises tojoin the value chain, thus increasing the localisation rate of productsmanufactured in Vietnam.

TheDeputy PM also suggested Samsung prioritise investment in research anddevelopment, and strategic human resource training; pay more attention to improvingworkers’ lives; and participate more actively in humanitarian and charitableactivities in Vietnamese localities.

For his part, Choi noted the opinions of Deputy PM Dung and affirmed thatSamsung will take the initiative in its role as one of the main “locomotives”  of Vietnam’s support industry development.

According to Choi, Samsung Vietnam’s export turnover hit over 60 billion USD in2018, 12 percent higher than that of 2017. The company also has many policiesto develop support industries, including directly supporting Vietnamese firms andtraining consultants in the sphere.

Last year, as many as 35 Vietnamese companies became first-level suppliers forSamsung. About 627 Vietnamese businesses have joined the supply chain,accounting for about 30 percent of Samsung’s total suppliers.

Currently,the RoK has more than 7,300 valid investment projects in Vietnam with a totalregistered capital of 62.1 billion USD. Of which, Samsung is the largestforeign investor in the Southeast Asian country with 6 projects worth over 17.3billion USD. Samsung’s projects have created jobs for nearly 160,000 employees.–VNA