VIR organised a seminar titled ‘Reaching out to innovative global supply chains’ in Hanoi on October 8, bringing together government agencies, diplomatic missions, businesses, business associations, and economic experts.
The event provided practical perspectives from the business community on the opportunities, requirements, and challenges involved in deeper participation in global supply chains, as well as the conditions needed to strengthen linkages between foreign-invested and Vietnamese enterprises.
Cha Ji Ho, vice president of the Vietnam Procurement Center at Samsung Vietnam. Photo: Chi Cuong
Speaking about Samsung’s cooperation with the Vietnamese government and local businesses to develop the supporting industries, Cha Ji Ho said global supply chains are undergoing rapid restructuring, making the development of stable and competitive supply chains an increasingly important priority across the industrial ecosystem.
Vietnam has also been strengthening its approach to attracting foreign direct investment, including through Politburo Resolution No.10 issued in June and government Resolution No.280 issued in September.
Against this backdrop, Samsung has continued to work with the government and local industry to improve the manufacturing competitiveness of Vietnamese enterprises, while creating opportunities for capable local companies to participate more deeply in Samsung’s supply chain.
Samsung’s cooperation with Vietnamese supporting industries has been built around its business philosophy of shared prosperity, linking improvements in the competitiveness of local manufacturers with the development of a more stable and resilient supply chain for Samsung.
For Vietnamese enterprises, the focus has been on improving productivity and quality while developing their own manufacturing capabilities. For Samsung, the objective has been to strengthen supply chain stability and increase the localisation of components.
“These two directions ultimately converge in a win-win development model, creating growth opportunities for Vietnamese enterprises while helping Samsung build a more competitive and stable supply chain,” Ho said.
He stressed that Samsung’s objective is not simply to increase the number of suppliers it works with. “Our goal is not simply to increase the number of business partners, but to jointly build a manufacturing ecosystem that can develop sustainably together.”
Over more than a decade, Samsung’s programmes have focused on two major areas: strengthening the manufacturing capabilities of local enterprises and developing the capabilities of local professionals.
During the first phase, focused on establishing manufacturing fundamentals, Samsung provided production innovation consulting to 379 companies between 2015 and 2021. From 2018 to 2021, it also trained 406 production innovation specialists.
In the area of mould-making, Samsung trained 209 specialists between 2020 and 2024. Since 2022, Samsung has moved into a second phase focused on developing core capabilities, with support expanding to smart manufacturing.
In 2026 alone, Samsung provided smart factory support to an additional 14 companies, bringing the total number of supported enterprises to 96. It also trained another 40 smart manufacturing specialists, taking the total number trained to 241.
The programmes have subsequently expanded into smart moulds and automation. Samsung has supported six companies in smart mould-making and five in automation, while training 13 practitioners in smart mould-making and 23 in automation.
According to Cha Ji Ho, the expansion reflects a gradual shift from strengthening basic production capabilities towards more advanced manufacturing technologies and practices.
The emphasis on human resources is equally important. Samsung aims to ensure that improvements can continue after its direct consulting support ends, by enabling Vietnamese companies to develop their own internal capabilities.
“The reason we place such strong emphasis on human resource training is to ensure that, even after Samsung’s support comes to an end, local enterprises can continue improvement and innovation using their own internal human resources,” he said.
Photo: Duc Thanh
Building on the experience accumulated over the past decade, Samsung plans to take its cooperation with Vietnam’s supporting industries to a new level through three priorities: broader, deeper, and more systematic support.
First, Samsung plans to broaden the geographical and corporate reach of its programmes. Until now, many of its cooperation programmes have been concentrated in Bac Ninh and Ho Chi Minh City, where Samsung has major operations. Going forward, the company plans to expand cooperation to key industrial areas in northern and southern Vietnam, including Phu Tho, Haiphong, and Thai Nguyen, allowing more local businesses to participate.
For smart factories, Samsung will expand both the geographical coverage and the number of participating enterprises. In smart mould-making, it plans to increase the number of companies adopting improvements while strengthening local partnerships. For automation consulting, Samsung aims to establish a scalable support system that can cover a wider geographical area. Its production innovation programmes will also be expanded to strengthen the network of companies involved.
The second priority is to develop capabilities more deeply, particularly by creating a pool of local personnel capable of leading continuous improvement within their own organisations.
Ho outlined a three-step approach: identifying key personnel at the factory level, strengthening their practical capabilities, and developing them into internal leaders.
Potential leaders will be selected from line managers, workers and personnel holding key roles in production, quality control and equipment maintenance. Through on-the-job training and coaching, they will develop skills in problem-solving, quality management and standardised operations, while also strengthening their ability to use data and digital tools.
The final step will focus on developing internal leaders through supervisory training, cross-functional collaboration, train-the-trainer programmes, and expert development pathways.
The ultimate goal, Cha Ji Ho said, is to create a pool of local specialists who can operate systems effectively, solve problems more quickly and sustain continuous improvement without relying on external support.
The third priority is to make cooperation more systematic by connecting support programmes with actual opportunities to participate in supply chains.
He highlighted the need for closer coordination among three parties: the Vietnamese government, Samsung Vietnam, and local enterprises. The government is expected to strengthen the information infrastructure for identifying potential enterprises, including business databases, while creating a policy and institutional environment conducive to business development.
Samsung Vietnam will continue to expand component localisation and create opportunities for competitive local enterprises to participate in its supply chain. Meanwhile, local companies need to strengthen their manufacturing competitiveness, attract and develop talent, and build the foundations for more self-reliant growth.
“When these three parties are connected systematically, support programmes will not stop at consulting activities, but can lead to actual business cooperation opportunities, growth and stronger competitiveness across Vietnam’s industrial ecosystem,” Ho said.
Looking ahead, Samsung Vietnam said it will continue to strengthen its partnership with the Vietnamese government and local enterprises under its philosophy of shared prosperity, while supporting Vietnamese manufacturers in improving their competitiveness and creating more opportunities for them to join the global supply chain.
The approach marks an evolution from providing individual technical assistance towards building a broader industrial ecosystem in which companies can develop their capabilities, cultivate their own talent and ultimately connect those capabilities with concrete supply-chain opportunities.