The Korea Herald has organized the first Global Finance Awards, recognizing that strengthening competitiveness in South Korea’s finance industry and establishing an ecosystem on par with global standards are required for the nation’s economy to make a new leap forward in the era of the “fourth industrial revolution.”

This award is meant to acknowledge outstanding individuals and companies that have pioneered the global market and provided convenient financial services with new technologies. The Korea Herald award also aims to spread the players’ innovative spirit and their contribution to the finance industry in spite of various regulatory hurdles.

To select the winner of the award, a group of judges with expertise in related fields have assessed a number of individuals and companies, examining how innovative their ideas were in making a change in the industry and also how authentic their global market strategies and corporate responsibility activities were.

 

As a result, the jury selected Yoon Jong-kyoo, chairman of KB Financial Group as financier of the year. KEB Hana Bank and Standard Chartered Bank Korea were selected as leaders in the category of banks, respectively representing local and foreign investors. Korea Investment & Securities, Hanwha Life, DB Insurance, Hyundai Card, Mirae Asset and Kakao Bank were named as leading players in their categories.

In the era of the fourth industrial revolution where everything will be connected, a whole new market will emerge with stakeholders competing against each other in an equal setting. This could transform many things, such as by turning today’s winner into a loser in the future, or an emergence of a new strong power that never existed before.

In this regard, Korean companies should have innovative and creative ideas to lead their businesses, and the industry should provide a new financial system to support them to make new challenges. Also, the finance industry needs to develop a market based on state-of-the-art technology and finance engineering models to secure convenience, trust and safety in service.

I’d like to congratulate individuals and companies that won the Korea Herald Global Finance Awards and express my appreciation for their contributions. I hope the winners strengthen their global competitiveness even more to secure a bridgehead for Korean companies seeking new market opportunities in the upcoming revolutionary era.

By Yoo Chang-jo, Marketing professor at Dongguk University