Samsung heir visits metro construction site in Saudi Arabia

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong visited Saudi Arabia on Sunday (local time) to check on Samsung C&T Corp.’s metro construction site in the country’s capital, Riyadh. Lee’s visit was reportedly aimed at encouraging Samsung C&T employees, who were working hard even during the south Korea’s Chuseok holiday, and exploring new business opportunities in the Middle East.

Having left for Saudi Arabia on Saturday, the Samsung heir paid a visit to the construction site in the morning of the following day, marking his first visit to the subsidiary’s overseas project.

For the metro construction project, Samsung C&T formed a consortium with FCC Construction of Spain and Alstom of France to build six subway lines covering 168 kilometers in the capital city, three of which will be built by the construction arm of Samsung. The country’s first public transportation construction project is expected to be completed by 2020.

The de facto leader of Samsung Group’s visit to Saudi Arabia during the Chuseok holiday seems to be in line with the group’s drive to find new business opportunities in the region. In June, Lee invited Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia to discuss ways to expand future cooperation in promising fields. He is also highly likely to meet with the country’s influential figures to discuss pending issues during his stay, observers say.


Hyoun-Soo Kim kimhs@donga.com