Lotte Group will invest 50 trillion won in new investment and create 70,000 jobs over the next five years. "We decided to invest 50 trillion won in all domestic and foreign businesses for the coming five years," a Lotte Group spokesman said on Oct. 23.
"We will actively make investment and promote the value of our corporate value although the environment is difficult," said Chairman Shin Dong-bin of Lotte Group.
First of all, it is planning to invest about 12 trillion won next year. This figure exceeds 11.2 trillion won, the biggest amount in 2016. The distribution sector will focus on enhancing online capabilities, while the chemical sector will seek to expand facilities such as ethylene in Korea, Indonesia and the United States.
It is planning to seek new opportunities for growth through digital transformation. It is going to expand its business based on Indonesia and Vietnam while continuing to push for expansion into new markets.
First of all, the distribution sector plans to focus on increasing the capacity of the online business to the highest level in the industry. It will actively utilize digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and Big Data to provide new experiences to customers.
In particular, it is planning to increase customer convenience by making large investments in distribution infrastructures that span on and off-line such as logistics facilities and systems.
Meanwhile, Lotte decided to hire 70,000 people over the next five years. As conditions at home and abroad worsen this year, 12,000 employees are expected to be hired by the end of the year.
Lotte plans to hire more than 13,000 employees in 2019, up about 10 percent from this year, as it has strong will to normalize management and create jobs.
In October 2016, when Shin announced the reform plan for Lotte Group, he announced a plan to hire 70,000 new employees and invest a total of 40 trillion won over five years from 2017.
