SEOUL– Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong will meet chief executive officers of Microsoft and chip equipment maker ASML later this week, sources said Monday.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will arrive in Seoul on Wednesday to attend the Microsoft Ignite Spotlight on Korea, an annual conference for developers and IT professionals. Nadella last visited Seoul in 2018.
Lee met with Nadella in November during his overseas business trip to discuss expanding business cooperation in next-generation technology sectors, such as virtual and augmented reality, and the metaverse.
Lee is also expected to meet Peter Wennink, CEO of Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML, on Wednesday.
ASML is the world’s sole producer of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines, critical to making advanced chips. South Korea is one of the company’s largest markets, where industry leaders, Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc., are located.
The Dutch firm is set to hold a groundbreaking ceremony on that day for a mega chip cluster in the city of Hwaseong, some 40 kilometers south of Seoul.
ASML is investing 240 billion won (US$181 million) for the 16,000-square-meter ASML Hwaseong semiconductor cluster, which will include manufacturing plants and training centers.
Lee has kept close business relations with Wennink for many years, as Samsung Electronics, which makes a bulk of its profit from selling memory chips, has sought to remain the industry’s leader.
In June, he visited ASML’s headquarters in Veldhoven, the Netherlands, to discuss supply plans of EUV equipment, cooperation in advanced semiconductor manufacturing technology and the industry outlook amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Source: Yonhap News Agency