HO CHI MINH CITY -- Vietnam's public security ministry has asked Samsung Electronics to cooperate with it on chips for security equipment, artificial intelligence to analyze files and biometric recognition software.

The two sides discussed high-tech collaboration building on the two-month semiconductor training Samsung provided to ministry staff this summer, according to a Friday post on the ministry website.

The South Korean electronics giant has helped "develop software optimized for [ministry] devices and integrated Samsung's mobile products into the Ministry of Public Security's equipment," the post said. It summarized a meeting with Security Minister Luong Tam Quang, who hosted Na Ki Hong, the director of Samsung Vietnam.

The talks came just weeks after a subsidiary of Samsung, the biggest foreign investor and exporter in Vietnam, said its factory in Thai Nguyen province would ramp up production of chip substrates that have become a hot commodity in the global AI data center boom.

In 2025, the security ministry took over management of MobiFone, a local telecommunications firm, and acquired a majority stake in FPT Telecom.

Quang became the country's top police official after his predecessor, To Lam, became president in 2024. Lam later became Communist Party chief to hold the country's two most powerful positions.

The ministry's increasing tech capacity reflects its "growing power," said Bill Hayton, the author of several books on Vietnam.

"The Ministry of Public Security has become a business empire with many financial interests, particularly in telecoms and IT," he told Nikkei Asia by email. "Given that the MPS is the 'shield and sword' of the communist party, the MPS is becoming a state-within-a-state-within-a-state." Samsung previously has said it donated 300 thermal detection cameras for use by police and fire agencies in the Southeast Asian country.

Besides biometric identification, its latest partnership will include use of big data, as well as applying AI to digitalize and automatically assess large volumes of documents, the security ministry said. It added that it will work with Samsung to "research the manufacturing of security chips for security hardware." Last year the ministry asked Samsung to share experience and training on cybersecurity and prevention of high-tech crimes, according to the government inspectorate's news site. In 2025, Quang visited the group's Thai Nguyen facilities in June and, in March, suggested that the company "attach greater importance to fully complying with the Vietnamese laws, particularly those related to labor, taxation, and fire safety," the ministry's Cong An Nhan Dan newspaper reported.

The March meeting included a request that Samsung supply training equipment, scholarships and philanthropy in the health, environmental, and education sectors, according to the Communist Party newspaper of Bac Ninh, another industrial province that is crucial to the company's global operations.

"Chinese firms already have plenty of experience in this area, and Vietnam could probably buy some 'off the shelf' solutions to provide these capabilities," Hayton said. But, he added, Vietnam likely prefers to work with a South Korean business "to do this sensitive work." Samsung did not respond to a request for comment.