During Chuseok Holiday, Lee Jae-yong Attending WorldSkills Competition in France: "Sweat of Technical Talent, Foundation of a Technological Powerhouse"

Third Attendance Following 2009 and 2022
Meeting and Encouraging National Team Players
Also Visiting Poland...Inspecting Local Stores and Factories

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong visited Europe during the Chuseok holiday to attend the closing ceremony of the International Skills Olympics and conducted on-site management activities by touring local stores and production plants in Poland.

On the 15th (local time), at the closing ceremony of the WorldSkills Competition held at Groupama Stadium in Lyon, France, Chairman Lee Jae-yong congratulated the athletes after awarding the medals. Photo by Samsung Electronics [Image source=Yonhap News]

According to Samsung Electronics on the 18th, Chairman Lee attended the closing ceremony of the '2024 Lyon International Skills Olympics' held at the Groupama Stadium in Lyon, France, on the 15th (local time), where he encouraged the athletes and awarded medals to the winners.

This was Chairman Lee's third time attending the event, following the 2009 Calgary, Canada, and 2022 Goyang, Korea editions. Upon arriving at the venue, when Chairman Lee sought out the national team, the athletes stood up and cheered. He congratulated the entire team for five minutes by patting their shoulders and shaking hands, and he willingly responded to some athletes' requests for selfies. South Korea participated in 49 categories at this International Skills Olympics, winning 10 gold medals, 13 silver medals, 9 bronze medals, and 11 excellence awards, finishing second overall.

Chairman Lee told the team, "The sweat shed by young technical talents is the foundation of Korea as a technology powerhouse," adding, "We will generously support them so that they can be respected and grow as technicians even without attending university."

Samsung has sponsored the International Skills Olympics for nine consecutive times from the 2007 Shizuoka, Japan competition to this year's Lyon event to nurture next-generation technical talents. Since the 2013 Leipzig, Germany competition, Samsung has been the only domestic company participating as a 'top-tier title sponsor.' In 2007, Samsung established the Samsung Skills Olympics Secretariat and set up the Samsung Electronics National Team Training Center within the Production Technology Research Institute to support the training and development of national representatives participating in the International Skills Olympics. This time, 24 national team athletes from Samsung affiliates including Samsung Electronics, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, and Samsung Heavy Industries participated in 19 categories.

When Chairman Lee visited the Calgary competition in 2009, he encouraged the athletes by saying, "The strength of manufacturing lies in the field," and "Our country is ultimately a manufacturing nation, and the reason we overcome crises faster than other countries is thanks to the resilience of technical personnel throughout every corner of the industry."

On the 15th (local time), at the closing ceremony of the WorldSkills Competition held at Groupama Stadium in Lyon, France, Chairman Lee Jae-yong is waving his hand. Photo by Samsung Electronics [Image source=Yonhap News]

Based on Chairman Lee's 'technology-focused' management philosophy, Samsung is also expanding support for nurturing high school graduate talents by extending the education target of the 'Samsung Youth SW Academy' (SSAFY) to include Meister High School graduates.

After the closing ceremony, Chairman Lee moved to Poland, toured local stores, and inspected research centers and home appliance production plants. He has continued on-site management by visiting overseas business sites during holiday seasons to check local operations and encourage employees. On the 16th, he visited the Samsung Experience Store inside 'Westfield Arkadia,' Poland's largest shopping mall in Warsaw, to discuss business strategies for smartphones, TVs, and vacuum cleaners. He also visited 'Media Markt,' which operates large electronics stores across Europe, to assess local customer responses.

Samsung Electronics entered Poland in 1990 and currently operates a production corporation in Bronki, as well as sales and research corporations in Warsaw. The Bronki production plant, which began full-scale home appliance production in 2010, currently mass-produces refrigerators and washing machines and serves as a strategic hub to quickly respond to local demand in the European market.

Earlier, during this year's Lunar New Year holiday, Chairman Lee inspected the Samsung SDI battery plant in Malaysia, and last Chuseok, he visited three Middle Eastern countries?Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Egypt?to check local operations and encourage employees. Following his holiday on-site management, Chairman Lee is expected to join the economic delegation formed to coincide with President Yoon Suk-yeol's visit to the Czech Republic (from the 19th to the 22nd) to explore ways to strengthen private economic cooperation between the two countries.