Asian Tech Press (Nov 22) -- According to Yonhap News Agency, Samsung Electronics will announce the site of its new chip factory in the United States this week. Earlier, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong visited the United States and Canada.

Lee Jae-yong discussed with White House officials ways to address the global chip shortage and the incentives the U.S. government will give if Samsung builds a new plant in the U.S., according to an anonymous source inside Samsung. According to another U.S. Congress source, Lee Jae-yong will announce the specific site of the chip plant this week after returning to South Korea.

Currently, Samsung Electronics has a chip manufacturing plant in Austin, Texas. The city of Tyler in Texas is considered the most likely candidate for the second plant, as the area offers more lucrative incentives.

Lee Jae-yong was on parole from prison in August and then embarked on his first overseas trip since his release on Nov. 14. During his visit, he met with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy and other U.S. tech executives to discuss possible future business partnerships in next-generation technologies such as virtual reality, Samsung said in a statement.

Lee also met with executives of U.S. biotech company Moderna Inc. and Verizon Wireless separately to strengthen their business ties in vaccines and wireless network services.

Samsung Group said in August it would invest a total of 240 trillion won ($205 billion) in the chip and biotech sectors over the next three years to secure future growth engines and expand its technology leadership in the post-pandemic era. The group said the investment will be used to nurture its strategic businesses, including semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, next-generation communication networks and IT research, but did not provide details of the investment.