Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met with Samsung Electronics Co Ltd Vice-Chairman Jay Y. Lee with the latter reiterating the Korean tech giant’s “commitment to the people of India as a strategic partner”.
Lee and Modi discussed Samsung’s role in the Make in India and Digital India initiatives. Lee, who has taken up a larger role in the company after his father and Samsung chairman Lee Kun-Hee became unwell, explained how Samsung is committed to growing India as an important production base and central R&D hub.
Lee said Samsung’s ultimate goal is to emerge as a “true local business” from its present role as a foreign investor. “Besides Make in India, Samsung is also committed to ‘Make for India’, an initiative to create meaningful local innovations for the Indian consumers,” a company release said, adding that the company will work actively with local communities towards this.
Met Mr. Jay Y Lee, Vice Chairman, Samsung Electronics. pic.twitter.com/uVQ5uaJNkH
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 15, 2016
On Wednesday, as a precursor to the visit, the company had announced its Make for India initiative through advertisements, listing its two manufacturing units in Chennai and Noida as well as the design centre in Noida and research labs in Bengaluru, Delhi and Noida. The advertisement explained how Samsung had partnered with Reliance to build the Jio network. Plus, the company is highlighting its Samsung Smart Class programme, which it claims is helping over 200,000 students from low-income families get a taste of e-learning through 376 Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya schools. Samsung also has 18 technical schools for training youth, a release said.