SEOUL, 21 Dec. (Yonhap) — Samsung Electronics executive chairman Lee Jae-yong traveled to Vietnam on Wednesday to attend the opening ceremony of a research and development (R&D) center there.
Samsung Electronics began building the $220 million R&D center in Hanoi in March 2020, which Samsung says will be the largest R&D facility in Southeast Asia.
“The R&D center will open soon,” he told reporters at the Seoul Gimpo Business Aviation Center, west of Seoul, earlier in the day. He did not respond to questions about his exact itinerary or other investment plans.
The de facto Samsung Group leader was accompanied by other senior executives, including Roh Tae-moon, president and head of mobile business at Samsung Electronics, and Choi Joo-sun, president and CEO of Samsung Display.
Since establishing a mobile phone manufacturing plant in Bac Ninh, northern Vietnam, in 2008, Samsung has invested aggressively in the country, becoming one of the largest foreign investors.
Lee visited the country in October 2020 to check on construction progress and discussed ways to strengthen cooperation with then-Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest mobile phone maker, operates two smartphone factories that are responsible for more than half of Samsung’s smartphone exports.
Lee returned earlier this month from a business trip to the United Arab Emirates, where he visited the construction site of the Barakah nuclear power plant and cheered on Korean workers at the long-running construction project.
It was his first overseas business trip since being promoted to president in October.