Samsung to manufacture phones, tablets in Venezuela

South Korean electronics group Samsung Electronics expects to begin production of cellular phones, tablets and home appliances in Venezuela during the second half of 2014 once it finishes building a factory there, a local company executive said.

Samsung and Venezuela in 2013 agreed to build the factory through a joint venture in which the company will hold 49 percent and the government will hold 51 percent.

“In six months we could begin production,” Luis Cobo, vice president of Samsung Venezuela, said in an interview late Thursday. “Initially it would be to meet domestic demand, but the idea is to export products.”

Possible sites for the factory are in the states of Falcon, Carabobo or Nueva Esparta.

In February, Samsung signed an agreement with the government of President Nicolas Maduro to sell the products under the country’s price control mechanism, which sets profit margins at a maximum of 30 percent of production costs.

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