[New Year's Address] San-eun Chairman Dong-geol Lee: "Let's Break 'Customs' to Elevate One Step"

2020 Was the Year When Saneun Leading from the Front Was Most Sane
2021 Is the Year When All Employees Must Take One More Step Forward
Emphasizing Overcoming Conventional Ladders and Embracing More Branches
Focusing Efforts on Enhancing the Competitiveness of Saneun and the Korean Economy

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] Lee Dong-geol, Chairman of the Korea Development Bank (KDB), said on the 4th, "To elevate both KDB and the Korean economy to the next level, let us break the world called ‘custom’."

KDB announced that it began its 2021 New Year operations by replacing the traditional opening ceremony with a video of Chairman Lee’s New Year address.

In his New Year message, Chairman Lee evaluated, "2020 was the year when KDB was most KDB-like amid the COVID-19 crisis." He emphasized, "In 2021, to elevate KDB and the Korean economy to the next level, all employees should take one step further with a Best Try attitude to break the world called ‘custom’ and create KDB’s unique competitive advantage."

To this end, he requested three things: challenge, diversity, and efficiency.

First, Chairman Lee said, "We will allocate some resources to new challenges." He plans to expand the new industry finance sector, which started with logistics last year, into convergence areas such as green finance, and to anticipate and respond to changes in financial customs caused by climate risks. In particular, he urged the planning and execution of practical policy finance that actively supports proactive facility investments by companies, such as investments by global companies in the Big 3 (future cars, bio, system semiconductors) and the expansion of smart factories for small and medium-sized enterprises.

He also stated, "To grow into a bigger river, KDB must establish an organizational foundation that can embrace change," highlighting talent development capability as an important leadership element to create a work environment where diverse talents can demonstrate their abilities.

Chairman Lee diagnosed, "This year, as KDB’s role is expected to expand in areas such as the Korean New Deal and green finance, operational efficiency will become even more important."

Accordingly, he presented specific management policies to prepare for the post-COVID-19 era, including calculating a tolerable risk amount to enable bold support in innovative growth sectors, promoting systematic digital transformation, improving branch operation efficiency, and enhancing the convenience of remote work.

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