A smartphone production line at Samsung Electronics Vietnam in the northern province of Thái Nguyên. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Samsung has rejected information that it plans to shift part of its smartphone production in Việt Nam to India.

The statement came after India’s Economic Times on August 17 reported that Samsung “may shift a major part of its smartphone production to India from Việt Nam and other countries,” citing sources.

The report said the South Korean conglomerate had submitted estimates of making smartphones worth over US$40 billion in the next five years to the Indian government.

“Samsung is likely to diversify its production lines for making smartphones to India under the PLI (Production Linked Incentive) scheme and this will have an impact in its existing capabilities across various countries like Việt Nam,” the news website quoted a source “familiar with the matter” as saying.

A representatve of Samsung Electronics Việt Nam on Wednesday told Việt Nam News that Samsung’s smartphone production plants in northern province of Bắc Ninh and Thái Nguyên remain operational.

“Samsung Việt Nam is still playing a key role in the group’s global smartphone production,” the representative said.

Samsung has been Việt Nam’s biggest foreign investor with its total investment in the country amounting to $17.3 billion to date, a 26-fold increase from that of 2008, when its first cell phone plant, Samsung Electronics Việt Nam, worth $670 million opened in Bắc Ninh Province.

Up to now, Samsung Việt Nam is running six plants and one research and development centre, with the two smartphone facilities in Bắc Ninh and Thái Nguyên being Samsung’s largest smartphone plants in the global market.

Apart from this, Samsung Electronics HCM City Complex is the biggest electronics plant in Southeast Asia.

In a meeting with Samsung Việt Nam’s CEO Choi Joo Ho on August 11, Việt Nam’s Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc appreciated the results of production and business activities of Samsung in Vietnam, especially the implementation of commitments that Samsung has made to Việt Nam such as the commencement of the new Research and Development Centre (R&D) in Hà Nội.

This is considered the largest R&D centre in Southeast Asia with total investment of about $220 million. In early March, Samsung Việt Nam started construction of the R&D centre in the West of Hà Nội, showing Samsung’s long-term commitment to Việt Nam.

Phúc expressed hope that the country would continue to remain Samsung’s global strategic production hub, especially as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the EU – Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) have become effective.

According to Samsung's statistics, around a half of Samsung's smartphones and tablets are produced in Việt Nam and exported to 128 countries and territories, including the US, Europe, Russia and Southeast Asia. — VNS