VietNamNet Bridge - Investments in research & development (R&D) in Vietnam have been increasing rapidly with the presence of many multinational investors.

With investment capital of $300 million, Samsung’s R&D Center in Hanoi, for example, is a large center in the field of software development. 

Before opening the center, Samsung had to rent eight floors at PVI Tower building to locate its temporary R&D Center for 1,600 software engineers who have created hundreds of software products for Samsung’s smartphones, including the well-known S-Pen Montblanc.

Samsung’s determination to build an R&D center in Vietnam shows that the multinational group highly appreciates Vietnam’s role as a production and R&D base in its global chain. 

The move of the South Korean giant, accirding to analysts, also shows the increase in foreign investment in technology research & development in Vietnam.

Nguyen Mai, chair of the Vietnam Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises (VAFIEs), is excited about this trend, saying that R&D projects are one of the most important targets Vietnam strives towards when attracting foreign direct investment (FDI). 

R&D is the starting point for any product or technology solution. R&D not only can help spur the creation of new inventions, but also help train skilled scientific researchers.

Besides Samsung, other large multinational conglomerates also have their R&D in Vietnam, such as Hewlett-Parkard (HP), Panasonic, Yamaha and Piaggio. Of these, Piaggio set up its Asian R&D in Vietnam, not in India or China. 

Investments in research & development (R&D) in Vietnam have been increasing rapidly with the presence of many multinational investors.

Most of the conglomerates only began developing R&D centers in the Vietnam about one decade ago.

However, the story about attracting R&D projects began a long time ago. In 2001, Nissan Techno, a subsidiary in charge of R&D for Nissan, an automobile manufacturer, set up Nissan Techno Vietnam to carry out R&D activities in Hanoi.

Encouraged by initial achievements, in 2011, the company decided to develop an R&D project at a larger scale in the Hoa Lac High-tech Park. By October 2015, Nissan Techno had had 1,800 Vietnamese workers.

Samsung has announced that it plans to increase the number of workers at its R&D Center from 1,800 now to 2,800 by 2018. Meanwhile, Robert Bosch has two R&D centers in Vietnam.

Six years ago, when deciding to build up an R&D center in Vietnam, DASAN Zhone Solutions met challenges as the labor force in Vietnam could not satisfy the company’s requirements.

Jong Hyun Park from DASAN Vietnam said that in Vietnam’s IT, fundamental technology does not receive appropriate attention because it is not easy and not a popular training major.

However, any country which wants to become a technology power needs to invest in fundamental technology because this is the foundation for the IT industry.


Thanh Lich