Samsung Vietnam officially opened the largest new R&D Center in Southeast Asia on December 23 in the presence of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in the Tay Ho Tay urban area of Hanoi.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attends the opening ceremony of the R&D center. Photos: VNA

The new R&D center, with an investment capital of US$220 million, covers an area of 11,603 square meters. The facility will research and develop mobile devices, including smartphones, tablet PCs, and software and hardware products.

The company plans to develop the facility to become the global No. 1 center through enhancing cooperation with tech universities as well as research capabilities of Vietnamese engineers in products development, artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT), big data, and the fifth generation (5G) network, and others.

At the opening ceremony, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said the R&D center in Hanoi is a testament to Samsung's orientation and commitment to its long-term operation in Vietnam. 

Chinh believed that Vietnam had become an important production "base" of Samsung globally. 

Samsung Electronics CEO Roh Tae Moon said he hoped the center would become where Vietnam's most elite IT talents are trained, and world-leading technologies are created.

He added it is expected to contribute to improving Vietnam's industrial competitiveness. 

Delegates attend the event.

Besides, under the Samsung Talent Program, the tech giant has joined hands with Vietnamese universities to train excellent software engineers and programs, sponsored 11 Samsung Labs at nine universities, and awarded hundreds of Samsung talent scholarships to Vietnamese students.

The total investment value was more than VND108 billion ($4.5 million).

Earlier, at a September meeting with Samsung Electronics Vietnam (SEV) leaders, Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Tran Sy Thanh stated that Hanoi always welcomes international enterprises to develop their business in the city, including Samsung, one of the city's major strategic partners.

Thanh added that the city and related departments would provide maximum assistance to SEV to ensure that the Hanoi R&D center will start its research in the nearest future.