Prepare for a permanent crisis, Lotte's Shin Dong-bin warns

Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin pays his tribute to Lotte founder Shin Kyuk-ho at Lotte World Tower in eastern Seoul, Thursday. [LOTTE]

Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin said that Lotte will uphold company values by enhancing global competitiveness and continuing to push the company to challenge itself at a biannual value creation meeting Thursday.

“The contemporary era is one of permanent crisis,” Shin said, referring to continuing economic slowdown consisting of inflation, high interest rates and the strong dollar. “It’s totally different from a decade ago, when company management was secure.”

The value creation meeting is held to discuss the performance of group companies, analyze the business environment and examine the economic outlook. Some 70 employees gathered at the Lotte World Tower in southern Seoul.

The meeting was the first offline meeting held in three years since January 2020 due to Covid-19 pandemic.

Before the meeting took place, Shin and the CEOs paid their respects to the statue of Lotte founder Shin Kyuk-ho as a tribute to commemorate the third year of his death, which was Jan. 19, 2020.

Shin noted that in order for the group to gain global competitiveness, sustainable growth and profit was the key.

The Thursday meeting was attended by heads of the four Lotte business units: retail, hotel and services, chemicals and food.

Shin asked the CEOs to “regard the crisis as an opportunity to go forward.”

Referring to Lotte’s purchase of Bristol Myers Squibb’s bio plant and Iljin Materials, a copper foil maker, Shin asked the CEOs to be “bold” when it comes to investment, which is thought to be a must for the group to achieve its vision.

Lotte Biologics purchased Bristol Myers Squibb’s bio plant in Syracuse, New York for $160 million last May. Lotte Chemical acquired a 53.3 percent stake in Iljin Materials for 2.7 trillion won, .

“This year is an important period for the group as we have to prove our effort that we’ve prepared for the last several years, so that we can finally rebound,” said Shin. “If we do not challenge ourselves to change and innovate, the future will not be that much different from the past.”

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]