Terence Lim, Managing Director, Co-Head of Goldman Sachs Korea

The Goldman Sachs Korea Conference 2005 was a good opportunity for a selected group of Korean telecom, technology, consumer and retail companies to present their current circumstances and to host one-on-one meetings with foreign institutional investors. The program was sponsored by Goldman Sachs and the Korean Ministry of Information and Communication and was held on Feb. 21 and Feb. 22, 2005, at the Westin Chosun, Seoul. Terence Lim, Managing Director, Co-Head of Goldman Sachs Korea, says, "We were excited and honored to work with the Korean Ministry of Information and Communication on this conference". The Korea IT Times spoke with Managing Director Terence Lim regarding this conference's main agenda as well as the conference's results, and his opinion about the technology capability of Korean telecom companies as well as MIC's 839 strategy. Q: What was the outcome of the Goldman Sachs Korea Conference 2005 The conference was quite successful. 27 companies participated in the conference and more than 100 investors, both international and domestic, attended the presentations and one-on-one meetings. Q: What was the main agenda of this year's Goldman Sachs Korea Conference 2005 The conference provided the opportunity not only to the well-known blue chip Korean companies to present the most updated information to the investors but also to the small but emerging Korean companies with technological edges to introduce themselves to the global investor community. Q: How do you rate the technology capability as well as growth potential of hi-tech and telecoms companies in Korea We think some Korean companies are quite well positioned in the global competitive market to lead the competitors. But many Korean companies are still mainly producing commoditized products rather high value added products. As a result, they are often under significant margin pressure. Therefore, the challenge to the Korean companies is to develop high value added technology and products to lessen the margin pressure. Q: Does your company recommend Korean technology and telecoms companies to foreign investors for investment We are quite positive on the outlook for technology sector, in particular, TFT-LCD and handset industries. Q: Would you comment on MIC's 839 strategies The Korean telecommunication industry appears to have moved into a mature stage unless the industry finds next-generation growth drivers. We think MIC's 839 strategy provides the framework for the telecom and tech companies to find the growth drivers and lead the global industry. Q: What would you say the Korean Government from the standpoint of a representative of foreign securities firm regarding improving the business climate in Korea The policy environment in Korea has significantly improved since the financial crisis in 1998. However, there have been cases where the Korean government's policy becomes unpredictable and comes as a surprise to the companies and investors. We hope the government continue to improve the policy environment in a predictable way.