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| Han Jong-hee, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, speaks during a shareholders' meeting at the Suwon Convention Center in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. Yonhap |
By Baek Byung-yeul
The vice chairman of Samsung Electronics promised investors, Wednesday, that the tech giant will try to turn the crisis caused by the global economic slump into an opportunity by focusing on technological innovation.
"The secret to overcoming crisis has always been the ordinary truth of focusing on the essence," Han Jong-hee told investors during the company's shareholders' meeting in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. "We will continue to create new value and possibilities so that our customers can enjoy a richer daily life through technology."
The vice chairman also expressed his gratitude to employees, partner companies and shareholders. "Samsung Electronics surpassed 300 trillion won ($230 billion) in sales for the first time last year despite the difficult conditions," he said.
"Samsung focused on steadily preparing the foundation for sustainable growth and strengthening its leadership through facility investments and R&D. Through these efforts, the company's brand value in 2022 stood at $87.7 billion, to rank fifth in the world for the third consecutive year."
Han said the company will pay 9.8 trillion won annually in dividends to shareholders, as it had done last year. He added that Samsung will strengthen the competitiveness of its businesses that are doing well and take on new challenges in new areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT), robots and metaverse.
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| Investors enter Suwon Convention Center in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday, for Samsung Electronics' shareholders' meeting. Yonhap |
During the meeting, investors questioned the company's strategy of increasing its stock value as the share price decreased to around 60,000 won after peaking at 96,800 won in January 2021.
"We are thinking about that in various ways and we will conduct an in-depth review," Han answered them.
"The board and management are striving to expand facility investments and acquisitions to strengthen the foundation for sustainable growth. I believe this is the most helpful for enhancing long-term shareholder value."
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