Reportedly, Lee Jae-Yong has left for the UAE, his first overseas business trip after taking over as the Executive Chairman of Samsung Electronics in October this year. Lee landed in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, on Sunday. He is visiting the UAE to attend a private forum hosted by UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
This is not the first time Lee Jae-yong will be attending this forum in the UAE. In fact, he was also present at the event last December. Sheikh Mohammad was elected as President in May this year, and he succeeded Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed. Since the time he was Crown Prince, President Mohammad has been inviting global entrepreneurs, tech leaders, and political leaders to a year-end party.
Also, this is another step towards a growing business partnership between South Korea's biggest conglomerate and the Middle East market. Samsung CEO Lee met with Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed, the then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, in 2019 to discuss future plans for expanding business cooperation in IT.
In February 2019, Lee walked President Mohammad through Samsung's 5G technologies, and the discussion also entailed ways to expand Samsung's foothold in the UAE. Later, Lee paid a visit to the mortuary of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the former president of the UAE.
Samsung is pretty keen on further expanding its presence in the Middle East. FYI, it was Samsung C&T Corp. that built the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Samsung Engineering Co. has also built many refineries in the region. So, the Samsung Group is keen on improving business ties even further with the UAE.
