Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin presides over the Value Creation Meeting (VCM) for H1 2021 at group headquarters on Jan. 13. (Photo: Lotte Group)

Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin promised to eliminate “stumbling blocks standing in the way of creating synergetic effects one by one with a strong determination of execution.”

Chairman Shin delivered his New Year’s message on Jan. 4, in which he urged his executives and staff members to join forces in making Lotte a company they want to stay on five years or 10 years later.

Chairman Shin first gave words of encouragement and then New Year’s greetings. While making onsite inspections, he said, “I could have read the minds of you who are determined to overcome a crisis from your eyes seen over face masks from desperately struggling sites.”

“We’ve so far been proud of having built industry leadership in diverse business areas, but we have to reflect on whether our core capabilities have been fully demonstrated in an unprecedented situation.”

He suggested the following three tasks.

First, he called for Lotte Group to take countermeasures against dangerous factors, which have been neglected so far, based on capabilities the group has accumulated and creating synergetic effects with a strong power of execution.

He urged companies to combine their respective strengths and capabilities to create synergetic effects.

Secondly, Chairman Shin said, “We need to take a proactive, voluntary attitude so that they can respond immediately and demonstrate leadership when the national economy comes back to life.”

He urged his executives and staff members to participate on a voluntary basis in efforts to overcome a crisis. Shin said he will spearhead efforts to create an environment in which gifted manpower can do their best. The more autonomous executives and staff members are, the nimbler they can cope with a crisis, he said.

Thirdly, he said Lotte should take care of the trust it received from customers and society. Chairman Shin called for the pursuit of growth in keeping with the environment.

He asked for the creation of a cooperative ecosystem with diverse partners, including startups, breaking down barriers, communicating with and trusting each other.

He emphasized the creation of social values to secure sustainable growth.

 
Citing human rights activist Angela Davis’s quote — “Walls turned sideways are bridges” — Chairman Shin appealed for everyone to make the year 2021 a stepping stone to make a leap forward by turning walls sideways together, rather than being disappointed with walls in front of them.

 
Subsidiaries of Lotte Group held a ceremony to launch the 2021 business year virtually to prevent the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.

Chairman Shin released his New Year’s message through the group’s website, which was newly opened after being overhauled.

Lotte Donates 7 Billion Won in ‘Love-thy-Neighbor Fund’

Lotte Group contributed 7 billion won to the Community Chest of Korea in the “2021 Sharing Hope Campaign” at the Fruit of Love Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Dec. 18.

Vice Chairman Song Yong-duk of Lotte Holdings and Chairman Ye Jong-suk of the Community Chest of Korea participated in the event. The money will be used mainly for improving the daycare environment of local communities and emergency disaster relief projects.

Meanwhile, Lotte Group has donated money every year since 1999 when the Community Chest of Korea was established. The group has donated 90.85 billion won cumulatively until 2020.