Samsung Electronics said Monday its Vice Chairman and heir Lee Jae-yong flew to Brazil during the Lunar New Year holidays as part of efforts to check on the Korean tech giant’s major businesses in the Latin American market.

Lee visited the production facilities for smartphones, TVs and other home appliances located in the free trade zone of Manaus, Amazonas, in the north of Brazil. The zone is home to around 500 global businesses.

Brazil is the biggest economy in Latin America. For Samsung, it is an emerging market with rapidly growing demand for midrange and some high-end mobile devices, as well as LTE and 5G network equipment.

Samsung is expected to see increasingly fierce competition from Chinese rival Huawei in the market. 

The de facto leader of Samsung was accompanied by Roh Tae-moon, the company’s new mobile business head, Han Jong-hee, head of visual display business, and Chang Si-ho, head of global technology center.

It was Lee’s first trip to Latin America in 19 years, when he officially joined management of the conglomerate in 2001.

Lee highlighted challenge and innovation in a meeting with Korean employees working for the Brazil lines.

“The strength that turns a crisis into an opportunity comes from ceaseless efforts to challenge and innovate,” he said. “Let’s write a 100-year history of Samsung with bold and challenging spirits to pioneer.”

The Samsung vice chairman is scheduled to visit Sao Paulo on Tuesday, where the Samsung headquarters for Latin America and a smartphone plant are based, according to the company.

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)