Seoul, Dec 21 (IANS): Samsung Electronics' Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong left for Vietnam on Wednesday to attend an opening ceremony of a research and development (R&D) centre there.

Samsung Electronics began building the $220 million R&D centre in Hanoi in March 2020, in what the tech giant said would be the largest R&D facility in Southeast Asia.

"The R&D centre will open soon," he told reporters at Seoul Gimpo Business Aviation Center, west of Seoul, earlier in the day. He did not answer questions about his exact itinerary or other investment plans, reports Yonhap news agency.

Samsung Group's de facto leader was accompanied by other senior executives, including Roh Tae-moon, president and head of mobile business at Samsung Electronics, and Choi Joo-sun, president and CEO of Samsung Display.

Since establishing a mobile phone manufacturing plant in Bac Ninh, north Vietnam, in 2008, Samsung has been aggressively investing in the country to become one of the largest foreign investors in the Southeast Asian country.

In October 2020, Lee visited the country to check on the progress of the construction and discussed ways to enhance cooperation with then Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Samsung Electronics, the world's largest mobile phone maker, operates two smartphone plants that are responsible for more than half of Samsung's global smartphone shipments.

Earlier this month, Lee came back from a business trip to the United Arab Emirates where he visited the construction site of the Barakah nuclear power plant and encouraged Korean workers on the long-term construction project.

It was his first overseas business trip since he was promoted to chairman in October.