HANOI, August 28 (Reuters) - Vietnamese leaders have urged U.S. chip designer Qualcomm and South Korea's Samsung Electronics to expand their investment in artificial intelligence, semiconductors and research and development as the country seeks to become a regional innovation hub.
• At a meeting in Hanoi on Thursday, Communist Party General Secretary and President To Lam asked Qualcomm Chief Executive Cristiano Amon to increase its investment in areas including AI, semiconductors, robotics, 5G/6G, data centres and next-generation connectivity technologies, according to a government statement.
• Lam said Vietnam was shifting toward a growth model driven by science, technology, innovation, digital transformation and artificial intelligence, and welcomed further investment.
• Amon was quoted as saying Qualcomm wanted to develop its presence in Vietnam into the company's third-largest artificial intelligence research and development hub globally.
• Qualcomm already operates an R&D centre in Hanoi and has collaborated with Vietnamese companies including Viettel and VinSmart, the statement said.
• Also on Thursday, Prime Minister Le Minh Hung told Samsung Electronics CEO Roh Tae-moon that Vietnam wanted Samsung to remain a key partner in strengthening the country's technological capabilities, developing its industrial base and integrating more deeply into global value chains, according to another government statement.
• Hung praised Samsung's contribution to Vietnam's industrial development and exports, saying the country was one of the company's most important manufacturing hubs globally.
• Total exports of Samsung's mobile phone manufacturing entities in Vietnam had reached $500 billion by the end of June since production began 17 years ago, according to the statement.
• Samsung has so far invested $24 billion in Vietnam, the government statement said.
• Roh was quoted as saying that Samsung planned more investment and training in Vietnam, and was working with the government to enable local firms to participate more deeply in itsglobal supply chain.
(Reporting by Khanh Vu; Editing by John Mair)
