South Korea's Samsung Electronics has applied for a license to invest $3 billion in making a second smartphone factory in northern Vietnam.

Samsung Electronics Vietnam will build the factory in Thai Nguyen province, where it also opened a $2 billion smartphone plant in March, according to Reuters, citing a senior official at the province's Planning and Investment Department,

"We are working on the project," said the official, confirming an earlier report by Dau Tu, a newspaper controlled by Vietnam's Planning and Investment Ministry. "There are still a few things to fix."

The official wasn't allowed to speak to media on the matter and declined to be identified by name, according to Reuters.

The company is talking with Vietnam's government to invest up to $3 billion in its handset business. The schedule for the spending and how much will ultimately be spent have yet to be decided, a Samsung spokeswoman told Reuters.

Samsung has been increasing production in Vietnam to reduce costs and compete with the low-priced smartphone of Chinese rivals in particular.

A subsidiary of the electronics company, Samsung Display Co Ltd, said it received regulatory approval to build a $1 billion display module assembly plant in the country back in July.

Samsung Electronics' latest investment would bring its total number of pledges in Vietnam this year to approximately $11 billion, according to Dau Tu newspaper.

Accessories and mobile phones became Vietnam's biggest cash earner in 2013, taking over textiles, according to Reuters.

During January-October of 2014, export Samsung Electronics' latest move would bring its total investment pledges in Vietnam this year to around $11 billion, according to Dau Tu newspaper, whose controlling ministry oversees foreign investment.

Samsung's generated $1.9 billion in export revenue in its first four months of operation, according to the Thai Nguyen provincial government. The plant was built with an investment of $2 billion.

The government confirmed on Monday that the company's total revenue is expected to jump more than 67 percent to $13.4 billion next year from $8 billion projected for 2014.

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