Bae Jae-hoon, HMM CEO, "Strengthening Logistics and IT Capabilities... Enhancing Service Competitiveness"

Bae Jae-hoon, President of HMM

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Bae Jae-hoon, CEO of HMM, stated on the 31st, "We must focus on strengthening service competitiveness through enhancing logistics and IT capabilities and concretizing a mid-to-long-term roadmap based on developing new business opportunities."

In his New Year's address, CEO Bae said, "The paradigm of the global shipping industry is changing," and added, "I firmly believe that a new chapter for HMM is about to begin."

He forecasted that 2022 will be a period filled with numerous opportunities and threats. He explained, "As a key player in the nation's core industry, the shipping industry, we must contribute to the country and society while continuing last year's management achievements by achieving further growth and challenges. We need to respond swiftly to supply chain changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the global logistics crisis and thoroughly prepare for the rapidly changing business environment and market conditions."

He also emphasized securing a competitive fleet according to the mid-to-long-term business plan and close cooperation with stakeholders such as shipping companies and cargo owners. CEO Bae urged, “The Bulk Division should build a cost-competitive fleet based on market forecasting and strategic cargo owner management and contribute to creating a stable profit structure through strategic fleet operations.”

CEO Bae said, “The year 2021 was more meaningful than any other year,” adding, “We laid the foundation for full-scale growth by recording the best-ever management performance since the company's founding, completed the acquisition of 24K and 16K ultra-large container ships, and accelerated fleet competitiveness by placing additional orders for 13K container ships.”

He continued, “Despite uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we faithfully fulfilled our responsibilities and roles as Korea's representative national shipping company, and even amid various crises such as the Suez Canal incident, we responded appropriately, confirming our response capabilities.”

Finally, CEO Bae expressed his gratitude, saying, “Above all, I would like to once again thank all land and sea employees who diligently carried out their duties despite difficult circumstances such as vessel operation delays due to COVID-19, long-term quarantine of maritime staff, and shortages of space and equipment. Achieving the best results and enhancing risk management capabilities amid global economic uncertainties were the fruits of the sweat and efforts of all employees.”

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