South Korea’s technology major Samsung Electronics will be making an investment of 300 million to set up research and development (R&D) center in Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has given the go-ahead to Samsung, IANS reported.

Once operational in 2019, the 21-storey facility will cover three hectares, employ about 6,000 people and develop high-tech electronic and telecommunication products. It will also operate rent-free for 50 years.

Vietnam has become one of Samsung’s biggest production hubs, and the firm has invested almost $15 billion in two production facilities in the country’s north, and in Saigon.

Producing Samsung products has helped Vietnam replace clothing and footwear with smartphone and electronics manufacturing as the country’s largest source of export revenue.

Smartphone exports alone were worth $30 billion last year, making up 18.6 percent of the Communist country’s total export revenue.