Choi Tae-won Writes 'One Thousand and One Nights' in the COVID Era

[Asia Economy Reporter Park So-yeon] "Let's become a company that creates stories that society empathizes with and trusts."

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won made this request to the CEOs of each company at the 2020 Expanded Management Meeting held on the 23rd at the SKMS Research Institute in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province. Even amid the ongoing spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), rather than blaming social and structural obstacles, he urged them to create stories of companies trusted and supported by investors, customers, and society.

Chairman Chey said, "CEOs must not only inform the market of the economic achievements gained in the process of becoming the companies they want to be in the mid to long term but also complete stories that everyone can empathize with." The newly introduced theme of 'story' at this meeting carries the meaning that only companies actively solving social problems during the difficult times caused by the COVID-19 crisis worldwide and guiding customers to consume the future value of the company can survive.

In fact, Chairman Chey is writing a 'Thousand and One Nights (Cheon-il-ya-hwa)' that continuously attracts the attention of customers and investors like Scheherazade from 'Arabian Nights' through new businesses in each affiliate. SK Biopharm, which is scheduled to go public in July, is considered the biggest initial public offering (IPO) this year. On the first day of SK Biopharm's subscription on the 23rd alone, subscription deposits approached 6 trillion won. It is expected to surpass the record for the largest subscription deposit previously held by Cheil Industries. This is the result of a high-growth potential new drug developer combined with abundant liquidity in the public offering market, a low-interest-rate environment, and market interest in the bio business due to COVID-19.

The development of COVID-19 treatments and vaccines is also an important theme in Chairman Chey's story. SK Chemicals is attracting market attention due to clinical progress of its COVID-19 new drug candidates. Its subsidiary, SK Bioscience, is jointly developing a global pneumococcal vaccine with Sanofi Pasteur and has been selected as a COVID-19 vaccine developer domestically, with clinical trials expected to begin around September. SK Pharmteco, a subsidiary of SK Inc., the holding company of SK Group, has agreed to supply raw pharmaceutical materials for the U.S. government's essential medicine stockpiling project in response to COVID-19.

The bundle of stories Chairman Chey will unfold this year also includes SK Innovation, which possesses electric vehicle battery technology, a global new growth sector. Market interest is high regarding whether a meeting between Chung Eui-sun, Hyundai Motor Group's Executive Vice Chairman, and Chairman Chey Tae-won will take place next month and whether advanced battery collaboration cases will emerge through it. It is understood that close communication between Chairman Chey and Vice Chairman Chung has been established with the assistance of Chey Jae-won, Senior Vice Chairman, who is already leading SK Group's battery division. In particular, Hyundai Motor Group and SK Group are expected to expand cooperation in the 'BaaS (Battery as a Service)' field, which aims to create batteries as a new platform centered on the recycling of used batteries. Recently, Kia Motors signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with SK Innovation for recycling used batteries and developing business models. Kia will provide used batteries from electric vehicles to SK Innovation, and SK Innovation will jointly develop recycling technologies for used batteries and various business models to build an eco-friendly ecosystem with Kia. A government official said, "The government is closely watching whether the three domestic battery companies will form strategic alliances in each field centered on domestic automakers," adding, "Even in a sluggish atmosphere, seeing the heads of companies directly take the lead gives a sense of future growth energy for businesses."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.