SEOUL– Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong visited the Barakah nuclear power plant in United Arab Emirates (UAE), the company said Tuesday, to check on the construction progress and support Korean workers on a long-term construction project.
Lee visited the construction site for the third and fourth nuclear power units, currently under construction by a consortium led by Samsung C&T Corp., the construction unit of Samsung Group.
“The Middle East is the land of opportunity, which is in the midst of great changes to find a new growth engine,” Lee was quoted as saying during a meeting with Samsung employees there.
Construction of the Barakah plant, the UAE’s first nuclear power station, started in July 2012, and it is partly operational.
Samsung group’s de facto leader Lee left for the UAE on Sunday, his first overseas business trip after he was promoted to chairman in October.
He is expected to attend a private forum hosted by UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Lee also attended the closed-door event last December.
The two met in February 2019 and discussed ways to expand cooperation in information and technology and broaden Samsung’s foothold there.
The leader of South Korea’s biggest conglomerate has been building up close business relationships in the Middle East market.
Lee met with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Seoul last month, along with top executives of several other South Korean conglomerates, to discuss business cooperation, including the construction of a US$500 billion, futuristic mega city in the kingdom.
Source: Yonhap News Agency