Samsung kickstarts construction of R&D facility in Hanoi
Samsung Electronics has begun construction work on its $220 million research and development (R&D) facility in Hanoi, Vietnam, which it has touted will be its largest in Southeast Asia. Expected to be completed by end-2022, the new centre will create 800 new jobs and boost the company's research efforts in various emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and 5G networks.
The centre, spanning a floor area of 79,511 square metres, would push Samsung's local headcount to 3,000 as the South Korean hardware manufacturer looked to increase its investment in Vietnam. It also would be the company's first overseas research facility.
To date, its parent Samsung Group has poured in more than $17 billion in the Asian market, including $9.5 billion which has gone towards Samsung Electronics' first local phone factory in Bac Ninh province. A second phone plant was opened in 2008 in Thai Nguyen province and its local presence since had expanded to include a household goods and television production complex in Ho Chi Minh City City.
"The construction of a new R&D centre is a significant step forward in Samsung's 12-year investment journey in Vietnam," it said in a statement Monday. "Through this project, Vietnam will not only be the largest production base of Samsung, but also the [group's] strategic R&D centre."
Samsung is the largest single foreign investor in Vietnam.
Its new R&D facility would comprise 16 floors and three basements, boasting several facilities such as a clubhouse, cafeteria, and sky garden, the company said. The centre aimed to boost the company's engineering capabilities in product development as well as research, including in technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), big data, AI, and 5G.
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