| GS Group Chairman Huh Chang-soo |
"With innovative technologies advancing every day and the rapid pace of changes in management environments, we need to find new opportunities," Huh said during his opening speech for the group's Value Creation Forum held at its headquarters in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.
Since 2010, the group has been holding the forum every year. It is a gathering of CEOs of GS companies and executives in which they share their own success stories to keep the group's momentum going for innovation.
"The diplomatic situation surrounding the Korean Peninsula is ever changing in the wake of the recent South and North Korean summit and the expected summit between the U.S. and the North," he said. "In this situation, the group should preemptively study what its role would be and prepare itself for the opportunities that will come."
The remark is taken to mean that the group, whose main units are energy, logistics and construction companies, is seeing potential South-North Korea economic cooperation projects as its new business and is seeking to make aggressive approaches to them.
"The answer to changes and innovation always lies on the field," Huh said.
"The group should feel the changes of the markets through contact with customers and know that the starting point for streamlining business processes or developing new growth engines is always on the field. Thus the group should pay more attention to the voices coming from the field."