Overview of the meeting. (Source: VGP)
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won reached the agreement while making a three-day visit to Vietnam last week.
South Korea’s conglomerate SK Group expects to join Vietnam’s efforts towards sustainable development by helping the country become pioneer in environmental industry, SK Group’s Chairman Chey Tae-won has stated.
SK Group is currently cooperating with Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) in drafting the strategy for the development of the environmental industry, said Chey in a meeting with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on June 5.
A healthy growth of such industry would help rebalance Vietnam’s economic structure, especially as the country expects to take advantage of the Fourth Industrial Revolution for further development, added Chey.
SK Group is committed to long-term business in Vietnam and willing to support the country’s initiatives for development in the future, stressed Chey.
At the meeting, PM Phuc welcomed SK Group’s recent acquisition of 6.5% stake in Vietnam’s largest privately-run conglomerate VinGroup in a deal worth US$1 billion, thus becoming the latter’s strategic investor.
Last September, SK Group invested US$470 million to purchase 110 million treasury shares of Vietnam’s Masan Group Corporation, equivalent to a 9.5% stake, making it Masan’s largest foreign shareholder.
In August 2018, its five affiliates, including SK Holdings Co. and SK Innovation Co., established a joint venture named SK South East Asia Investment Pte. Ltd. in Vietnam to launch promising business opportunities in the burgeoning Southeast Asian market.
Chey said that his group will continue practical investment to create practical value for the Vietnamese people.
SK Group plans to fund 30 million USD for Vietnam’s National Innovation Centre (NIC). (Photo: pulsenews.co.kr)
Moreover, SK Group has provided a non-refundable grant worth US$30 million to facilitate the development of the National Innovation Center (NIC) in Vietnam.
The National Innovation Centre, planned to be developed in an industrial park in Hanoi, will host some 40 big technology companies and 150 startups, plus 15 venture investment funds. Its construction is expected to be completed by 2020.
Phuc said Vietnamese government would create favorable conditions for companies doing businesses in the country, especially technology firms, adding this is the direction for growth in the context of Industry 4.0.
Phuc stated SK Group has made a step in the right direction, while joint projects in hi-tech production between the group and Vingroup are expected to transform Vietnam’s manufacturing sector.
The PM referred to the slogan of “Make in Vietnam”, meaning all processes from creation, design and production take place right in Vietnam.
This is the only way for Vietnam to become a prosperous country, he asserted.
The Korean group operates in the fields of energy, telecommunications, high-tech components, logistics and services. It has been present in more than 40 countries and territories.
