RoK firms expand investment in research and development in Vietnam

Samsung Electronics Vietnam plant in Bac Ninh (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi – Leading enterprises from the Republic of Korea (RoK) including Samsung Electronics, Naver and Revu Corporation have further promoted investment in research and development (R&D) centres in Vietnam to fully tap high-quality and low-cost human resources.

A report released recently by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) said with stable economic growth, Vietnam has continuously trained young R&D staff to a high level.

Vietnam ranked second in the world in terms of software outsourcing for information technology development in 2020.

Meanwhile, the Vietnam IT Market Report 2021 conducted by TopDev, a Vietnamese market research company, shows that the average salary of programmers with less than two years of experience in Vietnam is at least 430,000 won (332.6 USD) per month, and the salary for those with more than 10 years of experience is 3.27 million won (over 2,500 USD). Meanwhile, the average salary of a new employee working at a mid-range IT firm in the RoK is about 3.5 million won (over 2,700 USD) per month.

Samsung Electronics has started construction of the largest R&D centre in Southeast Asia in Hanoi, which is expected to be completed in 2022.

LG Electronics opened the LG Vehicle Component Solutions Development Centre Vietnam in the central city of Da Nang in 2020.

Naver and NCsoft have also established R&D organisations in Vietnam. In 2021, Naver collaborated with Vietnam's information technology research institutes, the Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology (PTIT) and the Hanoi University of Science and Technology to set up an artificial intelligence research centre. Meanwhile, NCsoft is operating NC Vietnam Visual Studio - an R&D agency focusing on graphics technology in HCM City.