Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) Executive Chairman Jay Y. Lee traveled to the United Arab Emirates for on-site management as war and geopolitical tensions mount across the Middle East. He inspected construction of a large power plant and encouraged employees, while discussing strategies to secure future business opportunities in artificial intelligence data centers, energy infrastructure and postwar reconstruction. The trip is seen as an effort to look after employee safety amid unstable regional conditions while identifying new growth drivers.
Inspecting a Power Plant Amid Regional Tensions
Discussing Strategy With Local Management
Samsung Electronics said on the 22nd that Lee visited the Al Dhafra gas-fired power plant construction site in Abu Dhabi on the 21st to review the project's progress and encourage employees.
Lee toured the plant's main facilities with on-site staff that day, examining the construction schedule and safety management in detail. He then met executives of Samsung C&T (028260.KS) and Samsung E&A (028050.KS) to discuss business strategy in response to changing conditions in the Middle East market and ways to enter new businesses.
The Al Dhafra gas-fired power plant is a large electricity infrastructure facility being built by Samsung C&T in a consortium with local builder Trojan General Contracting. The project is designed to meet the UAE's continued industrial development and rising electricity demand, and is expected to help supply power to advanced industries including AI data centers.
Samsung has treated the UAE as a core business base in the Middle East and expanded its footing in energy and infrastructure. Samsung C&T built up large-scale power plant construction capabilities through its participation in the UAE's Barakah nuclear power plant project. Samsung E&A also uses the UAE as a main base for its Middle East and Africa operations, carrying out plant projects in refining, gas and petrochemicals.
Targeting New AI and Energy Infrastructure Businesses
Chips, Cooling, Batteries and Construction in Play
Lee's visit is also read as a move to secure future business opportunities for Samsung as the Middle East's industrial structure shifts.
The UAE has recently been cultivating AI and advanced industries as new growth pillars beyond its existing energy sector. Demand for energy infrastructure such as power plants and grids, essential to operating large data centers, is expected to expand rapidly as a result. Should the war in the Middle East end, reconstruction demand to restore damaged refining facilities and industrial infrastructure could also emerge as a new business opportunity, observers said.
The UAE is a key partner in the Middle East that has a special strategic partnership with South Korea. With the two countries maintaining close cooperation in nuclear power, energy and infrastructure, Samsung is exploring the possibility of entering future businesses by drawing on its existing base.
Samsung plans to pursue the AI data center market and related energy infrastructure aggressively, based on the technology and local experience it has accumulated in nuclear and combined-cycle gas power projects.
Samsung Electronics has the capability to supply advanced semiconductors and cooling solutions for AI data centers, Samsung SDS can provide data center operating solutions, and Samsung SDI (006400.KS) can supply energy storage systems. Samsung E&A, a global engineering, procurement and construction firm specializing in the design of petrochemical, bio, environmental and energy transition plants, also plans to seek new opportunities in the expanding local energy infrastructure business.
Combining Samsung's semiconductor, power, construction and operating technologies could turn the Middle East's growing AI infrastructure investment into business opportunities across the group's affiliates, analysts said.
Gifts for 730 Employees in the Middle East
Lunch With Workers at the Site Cafeteria
During the visit, Lee paid particular attention to the safety and working conditions of employees staying at construction sites despite the region's unstable situation.
After touring the Al Dhafra plant site, he had lunch with workers at the on-site cafeteria they use every day. He encouraged staff working through hot weather and heard directly about living conditions abroad, difficulties on the job and their requests.
He then held a separate meeting with Samsung C&T and Samsung E&A employees to exchange views on the obstacles they face in overseas projects and on local business issues.
The visit is seen as reflecting a commitment to maintaining continuity in overseas operations while looking after the safety and morale of on-site personnel, even as geopolitical risks grow.
Lee has continued such steps as concerns grow over the safety of local employees and their families amid recent war and geopolitical conflict in the Middle East.
On the 16th, he delivered gifts and letters of thanks to 730 employees of Samsung affiliates posted in nine Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iran, as well as to their families living locally and in South Korea.
Employees in the region received gift certificates worth 3 million to 5 million won, while families in South Korea received Onnuri gift certificates worth 2 million to 3 million won, which can be used at traditional markets and small local businesses.
"I am deeply grateful for the sense of responsibility and effort you show in your respective roles," Lee said in the letter. "The company always puts your safety and health first."
In March, he also sent gifts and letters to about 500 employees and their families staying in three Middle Eastern countries: the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Lee visited a subway construction site in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, during the Chuseok holiday in 2019, and in December 2022 chose the Barakah nuclear plant construction site in the UAE as his first overseas site visit after becoming chairman.