SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won stressed the expansion of the partnership through the pursuit of social values in Washington, D.C. The "SK Night" event, which was organized not only to enhance SK's business competitiveness but also to "Korea Sales," was held amid high interest, with a large number of high-ranking U.S. political, related and business leaders attending.
According to SK, some 250 high-ranking officials including Vice Commerce Secretary Karen Kelly, Oklahoma Representative Frank Lucas, Continental Resources Chairman Harold Hamm, and Singclair Group Chairman David Smith, attended the "SK Night" held at the SK Washington branch in Washington, D.C. on the evening of Sept. 19.
SK Night is a place to introduce SK's global competitiveness to major U.S. figures and seek cooperation in the North American market, which has been held in Washington, DC since last year.
"SK has invested $5 billion in the U.S. over the past three years and is fulfilling its half-promise through an additional $10 billion investment over the next three years," SK Group Chairman Chey said.
"Social values can be created in a variety of ways by creating jobs, paying taxes, providing education and using eco-friendly materials," he said. "SK generated $2.4 billion in social value in the U.S. for all of 2018."
"In the process of expanding its U.S. business in the future, it will create more social value along with the U.S. government and businesses to expand partnerships and create greater happiness," he added.
In addition to attending the SK Night event, Chey held separate meetings with Wilbur Ross (Commerce Secretary), John Hamre (Director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies), and Edwin Feulner(chairman of the Heritage Foundation), to discuss global political and economic trends.
After completing his Washington schedule, Chey will attend the World Citizens' Award ceremony and dinner to be held in New York on Sept. 22-23 and meet with former winners Klaus Schwab, chairman of the World Economic Forum, to discuss global economic cooperation plans.
Meanwhile, SK recently acquired the wafer unit of U.S. DuPont through its subsidiary SK Siltron. In addition, the company has been focusing on developing the pharmaceutical bio sector by acquiring Ampac, a pharmaceutical-based consignment development producer, and establishing SK Pharmteco, an integrated CMO company, in Sacramento, California, last year.
SK is expanding its business into the shale energy Gathering & Processing(G&P) sector through investments in Blue Racer Midstream. SK Innovation is also currently building a $1.7 billion electric vehicle battery plant in Georgia with the aim of producing it in 2022.
In 2017, SK General Chemicals acquired EAA(Eethylene Acrylic acid) and PVDC(Polyvinylidene) businesses from U.S. Dow Chemical and added high-value chemical businesses.
SK Telecom is developing 5G-based broadcasting solutions with Sinclair, the largest terrestrial network in the U.S., and is also working on joint projects related to games with Comcast and Microsoft.
SK Group has been using North America as a global hub, with investments in the U.S. in the fields of energy, chemicals and ICT, as well as batteries, pharmaceuticals, bio and materials, reaching $5 billion over the past three years.
