HANOI - Vietnam on Monday awarded a licence to a unit of Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Co Ltd to build a $270 million plant to produce laptops and tablets, the Vietnamese government said.

The plant, to be developed by Fukang Technology, will be located in the northern province of Bac Giang and will annually produce eight million units, the government said in a statement on its website.

Foxconn has so far invested $1.5 billion in Vietnam and plans to raise its investment by $700 million and recruit 10,000 more local workers this year, the government said.

Separately, state media reported last week Foxconn was also looking into investing $1.3 billion in Thanh Hoa province, 160 km (99.42 miles) south of Hanoi.

Foxconn is moving some iPad and MacBook assembly to Vietnam from China at the request of Apple Inc, a person with knowledge of the plan said in November, as the U.S. firm diversifies production to minimise the impact of Sino-U.S. trade tensions.

Foxconn did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

  - Reuters