
Please try another search
By Khanh Vu
HANOI (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics (KS:005930) has started building a $220 million research and development center in Vietnam, the South Korean tech giant's local unit said on Monday.
But a ground-breaking ceremony, scheduled for this past Saturday, was canceled because of a virus outbreak that led to travel restrictions on South Koreans, Hong Sun, the vice chairman of Korea Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam, told Reuters.
A Samsung Electronics spokeswoman confirmed the cancellation, but did not provide any other details.
Construction of the center in Hanoi will be completed by the end of 2022, Samsung Vietnam said in a statement, adding that the center will employ between 2,200 and 3,000 people.
Samsung is the single largest foreign investor in Vietnam, with investments totaling $17 billion, it said.
The center as planned would be the largest of its kind in Southeast Asia and will enhance the company's research capability in such areas as artificial intelligence, internet of things, big data and 5G, it said.
The Vietnamese government earlier on Monday announced the commencement of building of the R&D center.
Vietnam's exports of smartphones and spare parts, mostly produced by Samsung Electronics, rose 4.4% last year to $51.38 billion, according to government customs data.
Vietnam said on Friday it will suspend visa-free travel for South Koreans starting on Saturday, Feb. 29, amid concerns about the coronavirus spreading.
Last week, Vietnam banned tourists from coronavirus-hit areas of South Korea. South Korea accounted for a quarter of Vietnam's 18 million tourists last year, the second-biggest group after Chinese visitors.
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
I feel that this comment is:
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.
Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.