The largest R&D investment ambition from the private sector.

With a total investment of $4 billion, the Sunshine R&D Center in Dai Phuoc Urban Area (Dong Nai) is the largest R&D investment by the private sector in Vietnam to date.

With an investment of $4 billion, the R&D center is the first project announced by Sunshine Group in the Dai Phuoc riverside smart urban area ( Dong Nai city).

Vietnam's "Innovation Capital": Long-term Ambition

Around the world , successful R&D centers are often associated with iconic buildings: MIT Media Lab (USA) with its famous transparent glass structure, Naver 1784 (South Korea) is a smart building that CNN called "the world's most AI-rich building," and Sphere Bibliothèque (France) has become a symbol of knowledge in Paris.

The most striking feature from the initial rendering is the Sunshine R&D Center, developed in the shape of a "modern bronze drum," a symbol of the intellect, creativity, and aspirations of the Vietnamese people since the Dong Son culture. With this design, the R&D Center aspires to become an equivalent symbol for Vietnam and, for the first time, draws inspiration from the 2,000-year-old Dong Son cultural heritage.

The R&D center's design is based on an open ecological principle, featuring a central green core with water elements that regulate the microclimate, and surrounding buildings arranged to optimize natural ventilation and lighting. This is the standard for leading sustainable research parks worldwide, such as Singapore Biopolis or Masdar City (UAE).

According to its announced long-term vision, the Sunshine R&D Center is not just a research complex but is also designed to become Vietnam's "Innovation Capital," following an integrated model: R&D, Startups, University, Investment Fund, International Expert Zone, and Future Technology Laboratory. This is a model that the world's most successful countries and regions have demonstrated.

Silicon Valley (USA) is home to Stanford University, expert zones, investment funds, and laboratories. Zhangjiang (Shanghai) has 200,000 researchers, universities, startups, and data centers. Hsinchu (Taiwan, China) has 170,000 employees, linked to TSMC, universities, and laboratories. Pangyo (South Korea) comprises 1,800 technology companies, linked to Naver, Kakao, and universities.

The $4 billion Sunshine R&D center is designed to give Vietnam its first version of this model in Dong Nai, near Long Thanh airport, Cai Mep-Thi Vai port, Ho Chi Minh City, and industrial manufacturing zones.

Timing: Why now?

Sunshine's announcement of building a $4 billion R&D center coincides with the time when Dong Nai has just been upgraded to a centrally-governed city, striving to become a model of dynamic, modern, civilized, and happy development, and an important growth pole with a ripple effect on the Southeast region and the whole country.

General Secretary and President To Lam emphasized that Dong Nai today possesses many strategic advantages, placing the city in the role of a multi-functional growth pole, a dynamic urban center, a national center for industry, aviation, and innovation, and the city needs to transform its unique advantages into new development values.

Currently, science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation are becoming important drivers of economic growth and enhancing the competitiveness of localities. Dong Nai has many great advantages in industry, infrastructure, regional connectivity, and a dynamic business community to develop an innovation ecosystem. In the new development phase, one of the city's key tasks is to transform its growth model based on science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, and high-quality human resources, with businesses at the center of innovation and data as a strategic resource.

Sunshine R&D Center is at the forefront of the growth model transformation based on science and technology, digital transformation, and high-quality human resources in Dong Nai city.

The Sunshine R&D Center is being invested in at a particularly favorable international timeframe: the US-China chip war is driving technology corporations to seek third locations outside of China; Vietnam has just been ranked among the top priority R&D destinations by the US, South Korea, and Japan; and the Long Thanh airport is about to become operational – providing direct international connections and attracting the second and third-generation Vietnamese science community in the US, Australia, and Europe who aspire to return. The $4 billion R&D center appears at the intersection of these trends. That is also why it has received attention since its initial design phase.

From "Dong Son Bronze Drums" to "Numbered Bronze Drums"

Over 2,000 years ago, the ancient Vietnamese carved images of warships, the sun, and the Lac bird on the Dong Son bronze drums – symbols of a civilization aspiring to reach the open sea. Since then, the bronze drum has become the most deeply ingrained cultural symbol in the Vietnamese psyche. Two millennia later, that image has been chosen to represent a research center for AI, semiconductors, and space technology – the new horizons of the 21st century.

Will the Sunshine R&D Center become a landmark of the digital age, in the same way that the Petronas Twin Towers became the symbol of Kuala Lumpur or the Burj Khalifa became the symbol of Dubai? The answer will depend on whether the $4 billion investment is implemented according to the announced ambitions.

But one thing can be stated clearly right now: this is the first time a Vietnamese real estate project has dared to ask questions on this scale.

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THU THAO

Source: https://nhandan.vn/tham-vong-dau-tu-rd-lon-nhat-tu-khu-vuc-tu-nhan-post964881.html