Jay Y. Lee, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Co. and de facto head of South Korea’s largest conglomerate Samsung Group, met with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia during his recent visit to the Middle Eastern country and discussed ways to cooperate smart city projects, sources said Wednesday.

According to multiple sources from the conglomerate circle and Saudi Press Agency, Lee met with Saudi’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday and discussed partnership in “technology, industry, construction, energy, smart cities and great opportunities for cooperation between the Kingdom and Samsung Group,” Saudi Press Agency reported.

The two last met on June 26 when Lee invited the crown prince to Seungjiwon, Samsung Group’s reception hall in Itaewon, central Seoul, during his visit to Seoul, where other conglomerate heads also attended including Chung Eui-sun, senior vice chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, Koo Kwang-mo, chairman of LG Group, and Shin Dong-bin, chairman of Lotte Group.

The crown prince, the first in line to the throne, is considered one of the most influential figures of Saudi Arabia that governs the country on behalf of his aged father King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. He is also the country’s deputy prime minister and minister of defense. In 2016, he announced “Saudi Vision 2030,” an ambitious plan aimed at transforming the country’s overall industry structure, leading to a series of large-scale construction and infrastructure project orders.

In June, Lee and the crown prince discussed smart city project which Saudi Arabia has been aggressively promoting. The two are expected to have deepened the talks during their latest meeting.

Samsung C&T Corp., the construction and trading arm of Samsung Group, meanwhile, is currently building a city subway in Saudi’s capital Riyadh. The metro project, launched in 2013, is Saudi Arabia’s first metropolitan public transportation project that involves laying out total six metro lines spanning total length of 168 kilometers across the city. Samsung C&T formed a consortium with Spain’s FCC and France’s Alstom to build three of the six metro lines for completion by 2020.

By Kim Gyu-sik and Lee Eun-joo

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