Samsung heir visits Vietnam to discuss possible investments plan

Samsung Electronics vice-chairman Lee Jae-yong departed for Vietnam for a three-day visit to explore business opportunities. He is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Tuesday to discuss possible investment plans and visit Samsung’s plants in Hanoi.

The focus will be on whether Lee announces new investment plans including the construction of a factory for electronic-car batteries in Vietnam.

Lee is also expected to inspect the progress of a Samsung Electronics research center that is currently under construction in Hanoi.

Construction of the $220 million research and development center, the first of its kind outside South Korea, began last March.

It is Lee’s first visit to Vietnam since October 2018. He is exempt from mandatory quarantine after the government scrapped the quarantine requirement for foreign managers, investors, and diplomats visiting the country for less than 14 days.

Vietnam is Samsung’s largest smartphone production base, with half of all its phones being made in the country at plants in Bac Ninh and Thai Nguyen provinces in the north. It has invested over $17 billion in Vietnam so far.