Lee Jae-yong Takes Swift Steps to Lead the Future of COVID-19 at Global Business Sites

Vice Chairman Lee to Meet Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on the 20th
Plans to Visit Vietnamese Mobile Phone Factory and Others

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, who is on a business trip to Vietnam, met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on the 20th to discuss business status and other matters.

[Photo by Samsung Electronics]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics, who faces several major trials, is undertaking a relentless schedule at global business sites. Analysts interpret his actions as efforts to devise strategies for the post-COVID era, as he directly inspected the Vietnam business site immediately after returning from a European trip.

According to business circles on the 21st, Vice Chairman Lee, currently on a business trip to Vietnam, is scheduled to tour production bases including the research and development (R&D) center under construction in Hanoi and a mobile phone factory.

Vietnam is currently regarded as Samsung's largest overseas manufacturing base. Since Samsung Electronics established its corporation in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in 1995 and began producing and selling TVs, it has been manufacturing smartphones, mobile devices, TVs, batteries, displays, and network equipment in Bac Ninh Province, Thai Nguyen Province, and other locations. Additionally, Vietnam is Samsung Electronics' largest mobile phone production base, with more than half of the phones Samsung sells produced there. It is also known that 20% of foldable displays, considered next-generation displays, are produced in Vietnam. Furthermore, Samsung Electronics is constructing Southeast Asia's largest R&D center in the THT New Urban Area of Hanoi, Vietnam. Samsung plans to operate the Vietnam R&D center from the end of 2022 for research purposes related to mobile phones and home appliances.

Earlier, Vice Chairman Lee visited the Prime Minister's residence in Hanoi the previous day and discussed business cooperation plans with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. Lee told Prime Minister Nguyen, "We will fully operate the new R&D center by the end of 2022," and added, "We aim to make it a Samsung R&D hub with about 3,000 research personnel." Prime Minister Phuc also requested Samsung's semiconductor production investment and said, "Recently, the Samsung Electronics corporation in Ho Chi Minh City issued a resolution to convert into an Export Processing Enterprise (EPE)."

Although trials related to allegations of illegal succession of management rights and the retrial of the state affairs manipulation case are set to begin on the 22nd and 26th of this month respectively, Vice Chairman Lee is accelerating on-site management by personally overseeing everything from semiconductors to displays, mobile phones, home appliances, and the set business supply chain. A business insider said, "As Vice Chairman Lee said at the semiconductor site in July, 'There is no time to hesitate,' it appears that despite judicial risks, he continues overseas on-site management with the intention of securing Samsung's future in the post-COVID era." For this reason, some expect that following his visits to the Netherlands and Vietnam, Vice Chairman Lee will visit Japan to meet companies related to core semiconductor materials and 5G mobile communications.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.