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| Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, second from left, talks with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Seoul, Friday. Screenshot from Instagram |
By Park Jae-hyuk
Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong met with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday, during his visit to Korea this week for a summit with President Yoon Suk-yeol. Their meeting was held a few hours after the leaders of both countries sat face to face on Friday morning.
Uploading a photo of his meeting with Lee on Instagram, the Spanish prime minister said that his visit to Korea was intended to give momentum to collaboration between the two countries in various sectors, including the economy and culture.
"I am very pleased with some of the announcements made on the occasion of my trip to Seoul, and that will have very beneficial effects for the two countries," he wrote on Instagram. "Spain and Korea are getting closer and getting to know each other better. And, what is more important, they are more determined to work side by side."
Sanchez apparently asked Lee to invest in Spain to manufacture semiconductors there, given that the European country has indicated its intention to join the global semiconductor supply chain. The prime minister also reportedly asked for Samsung's investment in his country in September, when Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee visited Madrid.
The Spanish government previously unveiled a plan to invest 12 billion euros ($12 billion) in the chip industry, with the aim of convincing global chipmakers, including Samsung Electronics, to produce sub-5nm chips in Spain. According to industry officials, U.S.-based Cisco decided to make investments in the European country.
Even before the meeting between Sanchez and Lee, the Spanish government wrote on its official website that the prime minister will have talks with the Samsung chairman on Friday.
A day before the meeting, Sanchez also visited the tech giant's Pyeongtaek production facility in Gyeonggi Province, to discuss cooperation in the chip industry. Samsung Electronics Device Solution President Kyung Kye-hyun and Foundry Business Division President Choi Si-young greeted the Spanish prime minister during his visit on Thursday.
According to the presidential office, Sanchez told Yoon that Spain seeks to upgrade its semiconductor industry, mentioning his visit to Samsung's manufacturing plant located in the city south of Seoul.
"Semiconductors are a very critical area in the world economy," he said. "And Spain is looking to develop this area further in the future."
On Thursday, the Samsung chairman met with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, as well as ASML CEO Peter Wennink, all of whom came to Korea this week. Lee also reportedly met earlier this week with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who visited Korea to attend the U.S. firm's event for programmers here.
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