SEOUL/HO CHI MINH CITY -- Samsung Electronics launched a $220 million research and development center in Hanoi on Friday, planning to make Vietnam the company's key global strategic base, as the Southeast Asian country already produces half of the South Korean tech giant's smartphones.
Chairman Lee Jae-yong attended a ceremony to kick off the first large-scale R&D center in Vietnam established by a global company, Samsung said in a news release. The facility marks the most concrete progress yet in Vietnam's struggle to move past cheap manufacturing and acquire tech know-how from Samsung, whose main suppliers in the country are all foreign. About 2,200 researchers will work in the 16-story building in Vietnam's capital.
