Intel, Samsung eye full operations at Ho Chi Minh plants in weeks

Units of Intel Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. are targeting to resume full operations of their Ho Chi Minh City plants by the end of November, a move that could provide relief to global supply chains.

The technology park at Ho Chi Minh is home to dozens of factories that produce components or services for global companies, including Intel and Samsung. (REUTERS)

Units of Intel Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. are targeting to resume full operations of their Ho Chi Minh City plants by the end of November, a move that could provide relief to global supply chains.

Saigon Hi-Tech Park is helping its tenants, many of which are currently running at about 70% capacity, to operate fully next month, the park's deputy manager Le Bich Loan said in a phone interview. She didn't elaborate on the steps the park is taking, particularly efforts at bringing back workers who fled to home provinces.

The Ho Chi Minh City unit of Nidec Sankyo Corp., maker of magnetic card readers and micro motors, also looks to return to full operations in late November, Saigon Giai Phong reported, citing Loan.

The technology park is home to dozens of factories that produce components or services for global companies. Representatives of Samsung, Intel and Nidec Sankyo did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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Many companies operating in Saigon Hi-Tech Park lost about 20% of their export orders in July and August, Loan was quoted as saying by Saigon Giai Phong newspaper. Coronavirus infections surged in Vietnam during those months, prompting movement restrictions and, in some factory belts, government requirements to provide on-site sleeping arrangement for workers or shut down.

Samsung in July shut 3 of its 16 workshops in Saigon Hi-Tech as it also reduced workers at its HCMC CE Complex by more than half. Intel, which has a test and assembly plant in Saigon Hi-Tech, had its workers on a sleepover arrangement to avoid halting operations.