South Korean tech giants Samsung and LG plan to spend billions of dollars on additional investments in Vietnam’s industry.

Samsung Electronics is the largest foreign investor in Vietnam. According to local authorities, the company will increase investments from $18 to $20 billion. The company itself does not comment on the information, but a source “familiar with the matter” has already said that the investment will be completed by the end of this year.

It is known that the company produced half of its smartphones in Vietnam for years and its products account for about 20% of Vietnamese exports. The additional investment will help strengthen the company’s key plant, it was announced after a delegation of Vietnamese political figures led by President Nguyen Xuan Phuc met with South Korean leaders as well as Samsung.

Earlier, there was information that the authorities of Vietnam are trying to convince Samsung to build an enterprise for the production of chips.

Separately, the Vietnamese government said LG also intends to increase investment by $4 billion to turn Vietnam into a hub for smartphone cameras. LG has already invested $5.3 billion in the local economy – here the company produces household appliances, cameras and car parts.

On Monday, Vietnam and South Korea announced the renewal of relations to the level of “comprehensive strategic partnership”. Previously, Vietnam declared cooperation at this level only in China, Russia and India.

According to the calculations of the two countries, the volume of bilateral trade will increase to $100 billion next year, and to $150 billion by 2030. For comparison, last year the total volume of trade was $78 billion.

Over the past decade, Vietnam has become one of the most attractive production hubs for electronics manufacturers.