The leaders of South Korea and India vowed to promote closer economic ties when they attended the first CEO forum for the two countries in Seoul on Tuesday.“There is still huge room for growth in economic ties between the two countries, given their economic growth potential and complementary trade structure,” South Korean President Park Geun-hye said during her opening speech in the first Korea-India CEO Forum in Seoul on Tuesday.Business areas where Korea and India can create win-win partnershi

Oceans and Fisheries Minister Yoo Ki-june will visit Shanghai on Wednesday to host a sales and marketing event targeting Chinese travel agencies and port operators to attract more Chinese cruise travelers to Korea. “During the three-day visit, the minister will also make a presentation on policy changes and efforts for the nation’s cruise industry development in details,” said Kim Sang-ki from the marine policy department at the ministry.According to the ministry, it is the first time for the So

South Korea’s participation in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will be beneficial if the country focuses on infrastructure-building projects in information and communications technology and other key areas, experts said. A recent report, titled “The Meaning of AIIB and Opportunity for ICT,” published by the KT Center of Business and Economic Studies, said that in order to Korea to benefit from the AIIB, it should focus on investing in ICT. “Investing in ICT in Asia could also pave the w

Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jay-yong, the heir apparent of Samsung Group, will take over the helm of two group foundations from his ill father starting May 31, the tech giant announced Friday. The term of group chairman Lee Kun-hee as head of the two foundations ― Samsung Life Public Welfare Foundation and Samsung Foundation of Culture ― ends May 30.This is the first time that the junior Lee, the chairman’s only son, has taken a chairmanship title inside the conglomerate.The Samsung Li

Mercedes-Benz Korea will fuel its growth momentum with a new CEO in the second half of this year, company officials said Thursday. From Sept. 1, Dimitris Psillakis, 49, current managing director of Mercedes-Benz Cars Brazil, will helm the Korean unit, the company said in a press release. He replaces Britta Seeger, who will move to Turkey to lead Daimler’s commercial vehicles business. Psillakis, who started his career at Mercedes-Benz in Greece in 1992, is known as a “growth accelerator.”  Dimit

Koreans work hard, but also play hard. Highways nationwide are packed with vehicles from the early morning every weekend in May, nicknamed the “month of family” with Children’s Day and Parents’ Day. “A surge in family trips is one of the key reasons the highways are jam-packed every weekend, regardless of the season,” an industry watcher said.With household income increasing and family-oriented lifestyle gaining mainstream, the leisure travel boom has swept Korea over the past few years. Camping

The neck-and-neck competition between BMW and Mercedes-Benz has been a buzzword in the foreign car community since the beginning of this year.In April, Mercedes-Benz retook the top position in monthly sales of foreign car brands, pushing BMW down to the second spot ― with its market share reaching 19.69 percent.  The results are based on the April survey of newly registered foreign cars by Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association, an indicator of foreign car sales.According to the

Pet businesses, including pet clinics, food and beauty shops, have continued double-digit growth for the past five years in Korea, and is projected to reach 1.8 trillion won ($1.65 billion) this year, according to industry sources. The market for pets, which hit 1 trillion won in 2000 for the first time is one of few industries achieving double-digit growth regardless of the economic conditions. “Considering the speed of growth, the pet businesses are forecast to triple to 6 trillion won by 2020

A continued sports utility vehicle boom increased the total domestic sales of five Korean carmakers in April, according to industry data released by each company on Monday. The five locally operating car manufacturers are Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors, GM Korea, Renault Samsung Motors and Ssangyong Motor.Their combined domestic sales grew 2.9 percent to 133,935 units last month from the same period a year ago, with overseas shipments shrinking 1.3 percent to 663,904 units, the data said. “Behind the

Korean Trade Minister Yoon Sang-jick (left) and his Vietnamese counterpart Vu Huy Hoang sign a bilateral free trade agreement in Hanoi, Vitenam, Tuesday. The trade pact is expected to take effect this year. (Yonhap)

ROME ― Italian carrier Alitalia will resume services to Korea after 18 years with its Incheon-Rome direct route to launch on June 4. Alitalia, a member of the SkyTeam airline alliance, will operate the new route three times a week with 250-seat A330 aircraft and offer three travel classes ― Magnifica (business class), Classica Plus (premium economy class) and Classica (economy class). “Under the vision to build the ‘new Alitalia,’ we have put a priority on the expansion of the Asian network (for

DEAD SEA, Jordan ― The global airport industry celebrated Incheon International Airport’s unprecedented achievement in airport services at the 2015 airport service quality award ceremony hosted by Airports Council International here on Tuesday.ACI, the biggest association of the world’s airports, hosted the annual event, following its announcement of the 2014 ASQ survey results and 2015 award recipients in February. The Korean airport was the best performer in the 2014 ASQ survey, the only globa

Volkswagen Group’s CEO Martin Winterkorn unveiled the 2018 vision for market leadership in the sector last year, proving its technology leadership in electric mobility.The Golf GTE, the plug-in hybrid version of the multi-award-winning Golf, is one of the best models to show how fast Volkswagen has pushed its e-mobility vision. The vehicle debuted at the Geneva Motor Show last year and is the third member of the Golf GT family, offering a sporty driving experience. The latest GT resembles its tw

Property transactions in Korea shrank in the first quarter of this year compared to a year ago, due mainly to tightened supply, according to Cushman and Wakefield, a global private commercial real estate service provider, in a report released Friday.For the first three months, only three prime office buildings (worth more than 10 billion won each), one hotel and one retail property in the prime asset category, whose asset value exceeds 10 billion won, were transacted. The total transaction volum

Han Sung Motor, Mercedes-Benz’s largest official dealer in Korea, expects continued double-digit growth for the next five years, based on strong demand for premium cars. “We want to grow 67 percent in sales by 2020,” said Ulf Ausprung, chief executive of Han Sung Motor, at a press conference held to mark the firm’s 30-year anniversary at the Lotte Hotel, Seoul. Under the company’s vision, it expects to sell 30,000 units by 2020.“(By 2020), we are going to increase the workforce by 50 percent and

Hyundai Motor posted an 18.5 percent decline in operating profits at 1.5 trillion won ($1.3 billion) in the first quarter of 2015 on-year, the nation’s top automaker said on Thursday.“The strong won against other currencies continued to erode profits in the first quarter of this year,’’ the automaker said in a press release. The firm’s revenue also fell 3.3 percent to 20.9 trillion won in the same period. Sales of cars fell both at home and abroad. The world’s fifth largest automaker in volume s

INCHEON ― Mohegan Sun, a casino and entertainment complex operator based in Uncasville, Connecticut, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Incheon International Airport Corp. on Tuesday for a resort development project on Yeongjongdo Island, Incheon, which is also home to the airport.Under the MOU, the company will invest in a two-phase development project in IIAC’s International Business Center II area, the airport operator said in a press release. The project, which will be completed b

International property buyers, many of whom left Korea after the global financial crisis in 2008, are returning to Seoul in search of bargains on commercial office buildings, market sources said Friday.Morgan Stanley, a global investment bank, is just one investor that will reopen its real estate investment fund in Korea. The investment bank closed its property business in Korea in 2010 when it posted a significant loss from its $1 billion investment in the Seoul Square office building located a

Despite the growing influence of Korean automotive battery makers like LG Chem, Japanese manufacturers dominated the sector last year, taking more than 70 percent market share, a local energy market research firm said. “A survey of batteries used for electric cars registered in 25 countries found that Japanese companies swept the market with a 71 percent share, followed by Korean makers with 17.3 percent,’’ said Yoo Shin-jae, vice president of SNE Research.The SNE conducted the research on three