Samsung is expected to increase the number of Vietnamese tier-one vendors from 27 to 29 by the end of 2017 and to 50 by 2020, said Shim Won Hwan, president of Samsung Viet Nam Complex.

Hwan announced the plans at Samsung’s second Sourcing Fair at the Samsung Electronics HCM City Complex (SEHC) on Thursday. The company’s current roster of 27 tier-one vendors represents a sharp rise from four in 2014, the result of concentrated efforts to identify and connect with Vietnamese suppliers.

Hwan said the sourcing fairs will be critical to the company’s expansion plans. In June, Samsung held a Sourcing Fair at Samsung’s plant in the northern province of Bac Ninh. The most recent fair attracted 24 Vietnamese enterprises to SEHC to gain a clearer picture of criteria and standards for component supplies.

“Starting from these Sourcing fairs, we have found and fostered Vietnamese suppliers with great potential, willingness and determination to absorb innovation, and improve and enhance their competitiveness,” Hwan said. “We expect that the fair can create nuclear supply enterprises that have a spillover effect on the development of Viet Nam’s supporting industries”.

Among the 24 attendees were 18 potential vendors that were positively evaluated and nominated by ministries and business associations after Samsung’s initial survey. These enterprises manufacture items including motors for air conditioners and washing machines, on TVs and home appliances, set top box for TVs and automation facilities.

As soon as the event ends, Samsung will develop a plan to consult and assist some of these enterprises to improve their production capabilities and meet Samsung’s criteria in component supplying.

The event was also a chance for six other Samsung vendors to share the results of their participation in Samsung’s three-month program of consultations with South Korean experts to improve production processes to meet standards for supplying Samsung’s factories in Viet Nam.

Located in the Sai Gon Hi-tech Park in District 9, HCM City, construction on the SEHC began in mid-2015 and the plant started operating in June 2016 with total investment of US$2 billion. — VNS