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| A man receives a shot of Vaxzevria (formerly COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca) at a hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam, Sunday. EPA-Yonhap |
Samsung donates W2.8 billion to central Vietnamese government
By Kim Yoo-chul
The Vietnamese government is facing an alarming spike in COVID-19 infections and top Korean firms, which operate in the Southeast Asian country, are actively responding Hanoi's apparent request to join its vaccine fundraising drive.
According to industry officials and Vietnamese government sources, Sunday, Samsung Electronics donated around 2.8 billion won to the central Vietnamese government and regional government.
Samsung made both cash and medical aid contributions to the country's industrial northern provinces _ home to key manufacturing facilities of Samsung Electronics _ which have been hit particularly hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. "Out of the total donation Samsung contributed to Vietnam, the conglomerate gave 2 billion won only to the central Vietnamese government," said one industry source.
Samsung's total donation amount is the largest among other foreign companies which have operations in the Southeast Asian country. SK also donated some 1.1 billion won to the central Vietnamese government. LG Electronics donated 1.5 billion won to the Hai Phong regional government, where the company's production lines are located.
Japan's Toyota Motor and Taiwan's Foxconn also topped the lists of foreign donors. The multinational companies are donating huge sums of money because they have a large presence in Vietnam.
But Samsung, LG Electronics and SK are feeling a bigger burden to make sizable contributions as they have a larger presence in the Southeast Asian country and a failure to respond to Hanoi's request could possibly impact their ongoing and future business projects, according to sources.
These top Korean exporters have been the top source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam. By March this year, some 948 projects were initiated by Korean companies in Bac Ninh, with a total registered investment capital of some $11 billion. That is around 53 percent of the FDI flowing into the Vietnamese province.
Samsung operates two massive factories in northern Vietnam, which account for around 50 percent of the company's global smartphone output. Foxconn, a top component supplier to Apple, has a plant, there too, while Toyota also assembles budget models in Vietnam.
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| People rest after receiving a shot of Vaxzevria (formerly COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca) at a hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam, Sunday. EPA-Yonhap |
Samsung is one of the top sources of FDI in Vietnam. The Korean conglomerate has also been in talks with the central and regional Vietnamese governments over various business projects, including the joint operation of a trial program to purchase electricity directly from renewable power plants. That means the amount of contributions illustrates the importance of Vietnam in the electronics supply chain.
"Vietnamese Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long expressed the country's gratitude to the heads of Samsung and SK's Vietnam businesses for their donation to the country during a separate face-to-face meeting, last week," one source said.
Vietnam recently cut its target for COVID-19 vaccinations mostly because the government was struggling to secure doses amid a global supply shortage. Hanoi has so far vaccinated only 1 percent of its population of nearly 100 million and authorities have become increasingly alarmed by a recent spike in cases. It aims to fully inoculate at least 70 percent of the population aged 18 and over by the end of the year or early 2022 and achieve herd immunity, its health minister was recently quoted as saying.
Some South Korean banks also joined the vaccine fund campaign. Shinhan Bank donated around 290 million won to the central Vietnamese government. Vietnam's central bank has the authority to decide the amount of money it lends to foreign and domestic banks.
South Korean companies were apparently requested repeatedly by Vietnam's central government to contribute to its COVID-19 vaccine fund.
