The achievements achieved by domestic businesspeople by meeting a total of 175 countries during the 18 months of the ‘2030 World Expo (Expo)’ bid are also receiving new attention. In countries with which there had been no exchanges at all, Korean companies have discovered unexpected business opportunities or received proposals for joint development of natural resources. This is why the business community evaluates it as “a great experience for domestic companies.”
According to the business world on the 28th, SK Group visited Croatia last month and received a proposal for cooperation in developing a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal while competing to host the Busan Expo. It was proposed that developing Croatia’s Rijeka Port into an LNG terminal would contribute to the energy crisis in central Europe, including Germany and Austria. An SK official said, “Related affiliates, including SK E&S, have begun review. “We discovered an unexpected possibility of cooperation in the energy business in a country that had previously been considered only a tourist country,” he said.
While visiting African and South American countries, proposals for joint development of resources such as lithium and tungsten were also received. As an example, POSCO International visited Madagascar and Tanzania in August to engage in an attraction campaign and signed MOUs (MOUs) with those countries to build a graphite supply chain. Graphite, which is used as a cathode material for electric vehicle batteries, is considered a resource that is highly dependent on China. Through this MOU, POSCO Group announced that it will be able to secure a total of 90,000 tons of graphite per year.
Hyundai Motor Company, which was mainly in charge of Eastern Europe, agreed to cooperate with Hyundai Motor Company Chairman Chung Eui-sun to meet with the Prime Ministers of the Czech Republic and Slovakia respectively to transform the region’s auto plants into electric vehicle factories in the future.
LG Group took charge of Africa, which had a small local business network, as its main region, and sought opportunities for cooperation, with LG CEO Koo Kwang-mo visiting the region in person. Accordingly, some African countries are considering ways to promote the LG brand by entering new markets. Samsung also expanded opportunities to nurture IT talent as part of its global CSR (corporate social responsibility) activities, and announced that small local sales corporations will be able to contribute to future business by strengthening their networks with local government officials.
An official from the business community said, “There were many concerns in some quarters that companies were putting a lot of burden on themselves because they were focusing on hosting the Expo. However, from a corporate perspective, we were able to use this opportunity to meet government officials from countries that had remained unknown until now, explore new business possibilities, and build networks,” he said.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.