LG CNS CEO Kim Dae-hoon, right, poses with LG Chief Operating Officer Jo Joon-ho, fifth from left, and other LG executives and Bahrain government officials after the firm recently agreed with Bahrain’s eGovernment Authority to implement Bahrain’s Business Licensing Integrated System. / Courtesy of LG CNS

By Kim Yoo-chul

Information technology firm LG CNS giant said Wednesday that it plans to raise its overseas revenue target to some 500 billion won this year.

The LG Group affiliate also reiterated its goal of increasing the portion of its revenue from abroad to half its total sales by 2020 as the company’s effort to bolster its international presence has continuously yielded tangible results, a senior company executive said.

``LG CNS aims to reap 3.7 trillion won in total revenue this year with revenue from overseas accounting for 15 percent,’’ said Oh Sea-chun, head of the company’s public relations office, adding the firm will invest a maximum of 100 billion won in research and development (R&D) initiatives.

Last year, it reported 3.2 trillion won revenue, of which 14 percent came from overseas, the company said.

Analysts and industry officials don’t question that Korean system integration providers such as LG CNS are facing difficulties in their move to increase stakes overseas due to a shorter business history and sentimental resistance from customers in Europe and North America to adopt Korean systems.

But LG CNS is doing better. This month, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer met LG CNS Chief Executive Kim Dae-hoon and agreed to collaborate on motion detection technology. Ballmer was in Seoul for the first time in two years. LG CNS was the only South Korean company that had a CEO-level meeting with Ballmer.

Countries in the Middle East and South America are LG CNS’s current primary targets. It won a deal from the eGovernment Authority of Bahrain to implement Bahrain’s Business Licensing Integrated System, a turn-key integrated solution for the electronic application and renewal of commercial registrations and related licenses.

The deal was worth more than $8 million. CNS defeated rivals in the United States, India and Singapore for the competition.

Oh admitted that further business talks are under way, though he declined to unveil them, citing the sensitivity of the issue.

``LG CNS is eyeing business chances in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. We have a strong intention to sell our fine-tuned solutions to various infrastructure projects managed by governments there,’’ said the senior LG executive.

Last year, the company was named the preferred bidder for a $300 million deal to establish an intelligent transport system in Bogota, Colombia.

The deal calls for setting up systems for bus management and issuance and maintenance of pre-paid bus cards by December this year. ``CNS is moving to complete the project as promised. We don’t see any big problems to end up with the deal,’’ Oh stressed.

The executive said the company will push its ``customized business strategies’’ according to different markets and different systems. ``Our overseas business will expand further next year, however, we will see a gradual increase not a drastic increase,’’ said Oh.