RoK media spotlight PM Pham Minh Chinh’s recent visit

Major media outlets of the Republic of Korea (RoK) continued to highlight the results of the recent visit to the Northeast Asian country by Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the invitation of his Korean counterpart Han Duck-soo.

Donga Ilbo run an article, recalling Chinh’s speech at the Asian Research Centre of the Seoul National University, in which he affirmed Vietnam always values its cooperation and exchanges with the RoK while highlighting similarities in culture of the two countries.

The newswire quoted Seoul National University President Yoo Hong-lim as saying that over the past ten years, about 600 Vietnamese students have studied at the university. He said the university plans to continue to maintain and expand cooperation into research fields with Vietnam in the near future.

Meanwhile, Hankuk Kyongjae run an article, stating that Vietnam is trying to attract Korean investment in the semiconductor industry. During his visit to the RoK from June 30 to July 3, the Vietnamese PM met with Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, examining a possible plan to attract semiconductor investment. The Vietnamese leader made a field trip to Samsung’s semiconductor cluster in Pyeongtaek province.

Vietnam’s Bac Giang province was mentioned to as a top candidate for receiving the investment.

Hankuk Kyongjae quoted Chinh as saying that Vietnam welcomes and encourages investment in semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI). He said Vietnam will promote an ecosystem for the areas and also emphasised that Vietnam will make efforts to foster high-quality talent, improve systems and develop infrastructure to best support companies investing in the semiconductor industry.

According to Hankuk Kyongjae, all eyes are on whether this move will actually lead to the development of the semiconductor industry in Vietnam. If semiconductor investment becomes a reality, the northern province of Bac Giang near Hanoi is considered as one of the favourable locations for Korean companies to enter the market.

As Samsung Electronics produces nearly 50% of the world’s total smartphones in Vietnam, it’s highly likely that the country will be a venue for the company’s semiconductor investment.

Samsung Electronics has so far poured approximately 22.4 billion USD into projects in Vietnam. With more than 90,000 workers working locally, Samsung Vietnam’s export turnover reached about 55.7 billion USD last year. The firm currently produces not only smartphones but also network equipment, TVs, screen displays and batteries in Ho Chi Minh City, Bac Ninh and Thai Nguyen.

Hankuk Kyongjae quoted Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-yong as saying that the company is planning to invest in screen displays, and Vietnam will become the largest screen manufacturing base in the world in the next three years.