Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong / Yonhap

By Kim Hyun-bin

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong is expected to travel to Vietnam to strengthen global management and seek new business investment opportunities there, according to industry officials, Sunday.

Plans for Lee to visit Samsung Electronics' Vietnam R&D center at the end of this year is being discussed. Since March 2020, Samsung Electronics has invested $220 million to build the R&D center in Hanoi, and aims to complete construction by the end of this year.

Lee was originally scheduled to visit Vietnam to attend the groundbreaking ceremony of the R&D center in February 2020, but the event was canceled due to the spread of COVID-19. Instead, he visited Vietnam in October of the same year. During that visit, after reviewing the progress of the R&D center construction, Lee said in a private meeting with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, "We will support the new R&D center to become a base for Samsung Group's research and development."

Currently, Samsung Electronics operates two smartphone factories and TV and home appliance factories in Vietnam. The Vietnam plant produces more than 50 percent of Samsung Electronics' smartphones sold worldwide.

This year also marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Korea and Vietnam, raising the possibility of the chairman discussing expanded business cooperation with Vietnam's political and related figures.

Considering that he has to attend a trial every Thursday on allegations of a fraudulent merger between Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T and accounting fraud at Samsung Biologics, countries in relatively close proximity such as Japan, China, and India are also considered as destinations for the chairman's overseas business trips.

Lee was appointed as chairman without fanfare on Thursday and replaced his inaugural address by sharing his remarks in front of 300 former and current Samsung executives on the company's intranet system on Oct. 25 during the second-anniversary of late Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee's death.

"Recently, looking at the global market and domestic and overseas business sites, I felt desperate," Lee said. "The more difficult the times are, the more we need to prepare ahead of time and develop our skills."