The electronics giant said that the building will be the biggest such facility in Southeast Asia.
The decision to build the site for research and development was made following two meetings between Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Samsung Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong in 2018 and 2019, Tuoi Tre reports.
According to Samsung’s local unit representatives, the construction of the building has started in Hanoi. The project will cost US$220 million and is expected to be finished by the end of 2022. The electronics behemoth expects that the center will employ 2,200–3,000 people.
A ground-breaking ceremony was supposed to happen on February 29, but was canceled due to recent travel restrictions on South Koreans, the vice-chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam told Reuters.
Through the new R&D center, Samsung aims to improve the skills of Vietnamese engineers in product development, as well as research artificial intelligence, big data, the internet of things and 5G technology.
Samsung is currently Vietnam’s largest foreign investor, with US$17 billion in investment. The new R&D building in Hanoi will be its fourth facility in the country. The first is a massive mobile phone factory established in Bac Ninh Province in 2008, followed by another in Thai Nguyen Province. The third Samsung facility is their electronics and television factory in Ho Chi Minh City.
[Photo via Tinh Te]
