VietNamNet Bridge – The recent moves by big foreign groups to set up research and development (R&D) centers in Vietnam may kick off a new trend which turns Vietnam into a new R&D center of the world.

Samsung is considering setting up a R&D center in Hanoi. The information has been confirmed by Kim Yong Seok, Planning Director of Samsung Complex. He said that the Hanoi People’s Committee has expressed its support to the project, and would introduce some places in Hanoi for Samsung to choose for the center.

Declining to reveal the total investment capital of the center, Kim said that the construction of the office alone would cost 20 million dollars. “We are trying to speed up the project, and we hope that the center may become operational by mid 2013,” he said.

He went on to say that the center is expected to attract 1600-2000 engineers, and explained that Samsung chose Hanoi for its R&D, because “talented person does not want to go too far.”

Also according to Kim, Samsung would spend one percent of the total revenue every year on research and development. The figure is expected to be very high, if noting that the export turnover in 2011 reached 5.8 billion dollars. However, Kim said that Samsung Complex may ask the government to adjust the proportion to get adapted to the new circumstances, especially when Samsung Complex’s revenue gets bigger.

As planned, Samsung Complex would increase its investment capital to 1.5 billion dollars in 2015-2020, while the revenue is expected to reach 16 billion dollars by 2015.

High hopes on the investment in an R&D center has been put on the project on making mobile phones capitalized at 300 million dollars of Nokia in Bac Ninh province. Nokia in 2011 planned to kick off the project this year, while promising to reserve a certain proportion of capital to inject in the research and development center.

“Besides the development of the production activities in Vietnam, Nokia would bring and develop the hi-tech know-how and the environment friendly production system in Vietnam,” said Juha Putkiranta, Deputy President of Nokia.

Another noteworthy move relating to the R&D wave is that in September 2011, while announcing its new investment strategy in Vietnam, Japanese Panasonic Group also stated that it will set up an R&D center in Hung Yen province.

At that time, the group said that it would kick off the construction of a new factory specializing in making ALIVH electronic accessories for smart phones, expand the refrigeration factory in the Thang Long industrial zone in Hanoi, open a new factory that makes washing machines in Thang Long 2 Industrial Zone in Hung Yen province.

“The main task of the R&D center is to make research and develop household electric products suitable to the demand of Vietnamese people,” said Yorihisa Shiokawa, General Director of Panasonic Asia-Pacific. “The center, once operational, is expected to create 1000 jobs to local residents,” he continued.

The information about the new foreign direct investment FDI projects in Vietnam is always considered “good news”. However, the information about R&D centers has a more special significance. Analysts have commented that the decisions to set up R&D centers in Vietnam means that Vietnam has entered a new era of FDI, when Vietnam not simply serves as the place to assemble hi-tech products, but as the place that creates new products.

Dr Nguyen Mai, former Deputy Chair of the State Commission on Cooperation and Investment, also said that this should be seen as the good news which the government of Vietnam has been expecting in the last tens of years.

“This shows that big foreign groups now see Vietnam a more important market in the global chain,” Mai said. “In Vietnam, they not only make production, but they want to develop new products. This also shows that they highly appreciate Vietnamese workers,” he added.

Source: TBKTVN