South Korea’s Samsung Group said yesterday it plans to spend a massive 43.1 trillion won (US$38.3 billion) this year as it looks to outdo rivals in global markets and develop new businesses.
The nation’s largest business group will invest more than two-thirds of the total — 29.9 trillion won — in expanding or building new plants producing -semiconductors, LCD panels and other electronics and 12.1 trillion won on research and development.
The new investment, up 18 percent from last year, is aimed at cementing “global market dominance of Samsung’s major businesses,” the group said in its investment plan for this year.
Projected investment in semiconductor plants amounts to 10.3 trillion won, followed by 5.4 trillion won each on those producing LCD panels and factories making organic light-emitting diodes.
The group this year will hire 25,000 new workers — also a record and up 11 percent from last year.
“Uncertainties over the global economy still persist, but we have reached the decision ... in an effort to beef up the global competitiveness of our flagship businesses,” Samsung said in a statement.
Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest maker of flat screens and memory chips, is the standard bearer for the group, which accounts for almost 20 percent of South Korea’s GDP.
The world’s second-largest maker of mobile phones after Nokia posted a record third-quarter net profit last month as global recovery fanned demand for memory chips and handsets, including popular smartphones. The firm has strived to expand its presence in the lucrative smartphone and tablet computer markets with its Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab going head-to-head with US titan Apple and its market-leading iPhone and iPad.
The group’s aggressive investment comes as it tries to find new growth engines at the start of a third generation of family management.
Samsung last year unveiled a plan to nurture new businesses including renewable energy and healthcare, with the goal of achieving annual sales worth 50 trillion won in 2020.
Jay Lee, the only son of chairman Lee Kun-hee, was promoted to president of Samsung Electronics last month when his two sisters were also elevated at the group’s key subsidiaries, which include hotel and textile affiliates.
Lee Kun-hee, now 68, led Samsung for almost 20 years and was widely credited with turning it into a global brand. He stepped down in April 2008 after being charged with tax evasion, but returned as chairman of Samsung Electronics in March last year after receiving a presidential pardon.
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