Vietnam has exempted Samsung Display engineers from South Korea from its mandatory quarantine, the South Korean Embassy in Hanoi said Friday, allowing them to swiftly do their jobs upon arrival.

To stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, Vietnam has mandated a 14-day quarantine for all people travelling from South Korea.

However, the South Korean Embassy said Samsung Display's workers will be exempted from this quarantine rule after the Vietnamese government accepted its request.

Early this week, Samsung Display asked Vietnam for quarantine exemption for its 700 engineers from South Korea so that the company can quickly prepare for the upgrade of its production lines in Vietnam and supply display panels to global smartphone makers.

Samsung Display's customers include Samsung Electronics Co., Apple Inc. and Huawei Technologies Co.

The embassy said the first batch of Samsung Display engineers will arrive at Van Don International Airport in Quang Ninh Province, northern Vietnam, later Friday.

The engineers will then move to Samsung Display's plant in Bac Ninh Province, where they will stay at a separate building to minimize contact among workers.

Samsung Display said the engineers will retool its production lines to manufacture flexible OLED panel modules.

The embassy said it is working with the Vietnamese government to grant quarantine exemptions to engineers of other South Korean companies that operate plants in Vietnam.

"This could be a starting point for the South Korean companies in Vietnam getting quarantine exemptions for their engineers," said Park Noh-wan, South Korea's ambassador to Vietnam. "We are also talking about quarantine exemptions for engineers of LG Display Co." (Yonhap)