Acceleration of Globalization

SK Energy CEO unveils this year’s tasks

SK Energy President and CEO Koo Ja-young said, “Despite the ever-worsening business conditions, I’m sure that we can get a step closer to a bigger future and happiness if we all join forces and collect our wisdom.” Enumerating tasks he will implement during this year, Koo said, “First, SK Energy will strive to choose and concentrate on core businesses. We now have to make a cool-headed assessment on determining whether our company’s mainstay businesses will continue to make a strong showing in the market in the 10 and 20 years to come.”
“SK Energy will make flat-out efforts to not only secure a competitive edge fundamentally, but also rise to the global No. 1 player in each business sector by pouring additional resources into core businesses that have growth potential and continuously innovating business models,” he said.
Second, he said, SK Energy will accelerate the yielding of the fruits of globalization. “We’re making preparations to make our businesses, centering around the chemical sector, another success story in China. And we’ll redouble our efforts to become a major player in entering the Chinese market by developing competitive business models and products with a competitive edge in the local market, departing from the existing practice of exporting products.”
Third, he said, SK Energy will be armed with its own differentiated competitiveness by exploring technology-based new growth engines. “We’ll make strenuous efforts to get the momentum to stabilize the newly-launched battery business and help such diverse new growth engine fields as environmentally-friendly energy and the development of information and electronics materials to yield tangible results.”
Finally, he said, SK Energy will continue to pursue transparent and ethical management. “We’ll do our utmost to improve management transparency through management centering around the board of directors and stepping up ethical management so that customers, shareholders and other stakeholders can feel happy.”
Looking back at 2009, Koo said last year had a difficult start with such unfavorable conditions as the global economic downturn and the worsening of refining margins, but it was a year for solidifying a foundation for growth thanks to customers’ and shareholders’ support and encouragement.
Labor and management became one in 2009 and joined forces in putting the company on an emergency management footing making a joint declaration, and they devoted themselves to expanding competitiveness in such existing businesses as the petroleum and chemical sectors while striving to explore future-oriented growth engines.
The company spun off the lubricant business and inaugurated SK Lubricants. It accomplished a feat by striking oil in the 15-1/05 mining block in Vietnam and landed a contract to operate and manage Vietnam’s first refinery, Binh Sohn Refinery. SK Energy also sustained its credit rating of investment grade through the improvement of its financial soundness and gained trust in Korea and abroad by being named as a governance grand prize winner. nw

SK Energy President and CEO Koo Ja-young