RoK firms expand investment in research and development in Việt Nam

Samsung Electronics Việt Nam plant in Bắc Ninh — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — 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 Việt Nam 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, Việt Nam has continuously trained young R&D staff to a high level.

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

Meanwhile, the Việt Nam 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 Việt Nam is at least 430,000 won (US$332.6) per month, and the salary for those with more than 10 years of experience is 3.27 million won (over $2,500).

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) per month.

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

LG Electronics opened the LG Vehicle Component Solutions Development Centre Việt Nam in the central city of Đà Nẵng in 2020. Naver and NCsoft have also established R&D organisations in Việt Nam.

Naver collaborated with Việt Nam’s information technology research institutes, the Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology (PTIT) and the Hà Nội University of Science and Technology to set up an artificial intelligence research centre last year. Meanwhile, NCsoft is operating NC Việt Nam Visual Studio – an R&D agency focusing on graphics technology in HCM City. — VNS