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SK Group, the country’s third largest conglomerate, will be investing 10.5 trillion won ($9.4 billion) this year, mostly in telecommunications and green technology.
In a statement, SK Group’s biggest ever investment represents 10 percent of its 2010 sales and twice its 2005 investment.
The bulk, or 8.8 trillion won, will be spent on its domestic business such as information communications technology and telecommunications. This means SK will be pouring more money into SK Telecom, the nation’s biggest mobile carrier.
Of its domestic investment, SK Group is investing 1.4 trillion won for research and development of future core technologies.
The conglomerate is focusing on R&D for green energy resource development (300 billion won), the next generation of innovative technologies (800 billion won) and nurturing new growth businesses (300 billion). This is aimed at laying down the groundwork for its sustained growth in the future,
The company said that it has continuously invested in R&D throughout the years, no matter how difficult the business environment has become. Its R&D investment was 600 billion won in 2006, and has since more than doubled to 1.4 trillion won in 2011.
For its overseas investments, SK Group is allocating 1.7 trillion won for the exploration of natural resources such as crude oil and natural gas. This is a 30 percent hike over the previous year’s investment.
With its ongoing investments in resource development, SK has secured 500 million barrels in total crude oil reserves. In the long term, it is hoping to increase that level to 1 billion barrels
SK Group is also planning to hire 3,000 new employees this year, representing a 25 percent jump from 2010 levels. Amid the economic crisis, SK contributed to creating jobs in 2010, hiring 2,400 new employees.
SK Group has continued to support social enterprises and job creation in the last few years.
``This year, SK Group and its affiliates are focused on future business opportunities. R&D investment and jobs are the two main focuses of management,’’ SK Brand Management Office Lee Man-woo said in a statement.
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