Hanwha Aims for 29 Tln
Won in Sales in 2008

Chairman Kim returns to day-to-day management duties

Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn told his group to pursue tangible results this year in the overseas business front in which the group plans to accelerate its bid to widen its business portfolio.
Kim reconfirmed the global management presence during the "2008 Global Management Strategy Meeting Designed to Achieve Goal 2011"convened at the company headquarters in downtown Seoul on Jan. 10. Some 50 Hanwha executives, including the CEOs of Hanwha subsidiaries, were on hand.
During the meeting, Hanwha finalized the 2008 business plan calling for targeting 29 trillion won and 1.2 trillion won in sales and pretax income, respectively, up slightly from last year's figures. To this end, the conglomerate doubled its investments for 2008 over 2007 to 2 trillion won and raised its new-hire goal from last year's 2,300 to 3,000.
The business group had its first global strategy meeting in Bangkok in January 2007 to prepare for Goal 2011, which calls for raising its sales to 45 trillion won by 2011.
Kim told his group subsidiary CEOs, "Each subsidiary needs to work out its mid- and long-term strategy and detailed action plan tailored to meet its characteristics in order to join the ranks of world-class corporations. In particular, each company must prepare strategies to explore new businesses and tap overseas markets and translate them into action."Kim showed his keen interest in streamlining organizational and personnel systems. He urged each subsidiary to establish its own organizational and personnel systems corresponding to its strong points after taking an in-depth look into advanced regimes of leaders in each industrial sector. Hanwha plans to educate its employees and outside gifted manpower in order to facilitate overseas entry and M&As, he emphasized.
Hanwha Group also plans to ratchet up its executives'participation in social contribution activities to up to 90 percent and the volunteering hours per employee from 12 in 2007 to 16 in 2008.
Earlier, Kim convened a meeting of his group executives on Dec. 28, 2007 shortly after he met with President-elect Lee Myung-bak along with other heads of conglomerates. The executives'meeting came after a hiatus, signaling his return to management. At that time, Kim told his group executives, "I've confirmed President-elect Lee's determination to turn the economy around. And now is the time to materialize our global management action plans through massive investments."The chairman cited his navigation theory in which wisdom and a challenging spirit are essential to make the most of fierce waves. "Unless a boat is navigated through roaring waves, it will be capsized. However, if we can take advantage of the waves, we can arrive at our destination faster,"he noted. nw

Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn