The growing appeal of Vietnam as an investment destination for many companies – notably those in the telecoms and IT sectors – has been underlined by announcements from Meta and Ericcson this week.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, announced on Tuesday that it plans to produce its next-generation virtual and augmented reality headsets in Vietnam. This, the company says, will create more than 1,000 jobs.
Meta's global affairs president Nick Clegg has said the firm plans to focus on the production of the Quest 3S headset in Vietnam alongside its local partners.
AFP reports that Facebook is popular in Vietnam, where most independent media is banned, but has been criticised by human rights groups in recent years for blocking content deemed illegal by the country's government.
Meanwhile, tech giant Ericsson and Vietnamese mobile network operator MobiFone have signed an MoU to collaborate on establishing what they call a 5G Innovation Hub at MobiFone’s premises in Vietnam.
The partners say the hub will feature innovative 5G use cases that demonstrate the potential of 5G for consumers and enterprises based on advanced, state-of-the-art equipment, trained resources and interactive displays.
They explain that the 5G Innovation Hub will be designed to serve as a 5G co-creation space featuring a state-of-the-art 5G sandbox network. It will be utilised to develop new 5G use cases in collaboration with partners in Vietnam and other parts of the globe. Both the companies will promote the hub as a dynamic innovation environment for consumers and enterprises. It will also support R&D projects.
Ericsson says it will share with MobiFone its global experiences on 5G commercial applications and support MobiFone in terms of establishing and maintaining the hub operations, design consultancy, and service experience solutions.
These announcements come as Vietnam has been looking to boost its attractiveness as a destination for investment by the world's biggest companies and a key part of the global supply chain.
