Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the de facto leader of South Korea's top conglomerate, departed for his three-day trip to Vietnam on October 19.

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong. Photo: Yonhap.

Mr. Lee is scheduled to meet Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc during the visit to discuss business and investment opportunities, Yonhap reported.

Besides the meeting with Vietnam’s leaders, he is scheduled to visit Samsung’s plants and the US$300-million R&D center that is under construction in Hanoi.

For his trip to Vietnam, Mr. Lee will be accompanied by Roh Tae-moon, who heads Samsung's mobile business, and Lee Dong-hoon, CEO of Samsung Display Co, Yonhap added.

This is Mr. Lee's second overseas trip this month following his visit to Europe and the first to Vietnam since October 2018.

Samsung currently has four subsidiaries in Vietnam, including Samsung Display Vietnam (SDV), Samsung Electronics Vietnam Bac Ninh (SEV), Samsung Electronics Vietnam Thai Nguyen (SEVT) and Samsung Electronics Ho Chi Minh (SEHC).

According to Samsung's statistics, around 50% of Samsung's smartphones and tablets are produced in Vietnam and exported to 128 countries and territories, including the US, Europe, Russia and Southeast Asia. This resulted in 58% of Samsung’s smartphone sales globally come from its production facilities in Vietnam.

In the 2008 – 2018 period, Samsung increased its total investment in Vietnam from US$670 million to over US$17.3 billion, a 26-fold rise.