Over the past decade, Vietnam has expanded beyond its traditional textiles and coffee businesses to become a big player in the electronics manufacturing supply chain. Many of the world's smartphones are now assembled in the country, and giants such as Samsung have been growing their operations in Vietnam. The country, still run by a conservative Communist government, is now trying to figure out how to move beyond being just another cog in the manufacturing wheel.This was evident while being on the road as I saw a huge Samsung factory.
Another article focuses on the notion of educating the Vietnamese to be more tech oriented.
The title is obvious. Schooling Vietnam: How Tech Companies are Training the Next Wave of Workers. Samsung is real. In fact, I wonder how many Galaxy phones are being made in VN. The article states:
Samsung remains serious about its investment here. Over the past seven years, the South Korean electronics maker has earmarked nearly $9 billion for facilities in Vietnam. That doesn't include the billions spent by other Samsung divisions and suppliers, such as a recent approval by the Vietnamese government for a $1 billion smartphone and tablet display factory in Bac Ninh province.
Already, Southeast Asia -- Vietnam in particular -- has eclipsed China in terms of total Samsung workers, and the region even overtook Korea last year as the largest employee base. Samsung employs about 110,000 workers in Vietnam, with the vast majority in its two smartphone factories in the Bac Ninh and Thai Nguyen provinces outside Hanoi. When the company's new $1.4 billion consumer electronics factory opens in Ho Chi Minh City in the first half of 2016, Samsung will add about 5,000 more employees to its payroll.
"Vietnam is now a growing country, so we have opportunities not only for business but also for workforce," Nguyen Van Dao, vice president of corporate marketing for Samsung's Vietnam operations, told me in the company's office in the Bitexco Financial Tower -- Ho Chi Minh City's tallest skyscraper.
