B2B consortium of Korea's biggest companies

The SK Group, the Kolon Group, the Hyundai Development Company and Trigem Computer to name but a few, have joined forces to form a b2b (business-to-businness) consortium.

by Lee Sung-nyung

KOREA, 7 July 2000 (JoongAng Llbo) - Under the moniker 'Asia Ventures B2B Ltd. (AVBL), the collection of some of the nation's most influential companies is making their foray into the b2b world with a sizable bankroll of 27 billion won culled from all the companies involved.

At a press conference on July 6 held at the Chosun Hotel in downtown Seoul, AVBL announced their launch.

Business analysts saw this coordinated move as a bid to gain ground in the neglected yet highly attractive b2b sector in which only a handful of e-businesses including giant Samsung are making huge strides, as well as discontinue costly overlapping investment possible if the companies were to act on their own.

On behalf of all the companies involved, Lee Woong-yul, chair of Kolon, stated in his opening speech at the launch that they had indeed agreed to co-development of this b2b network and doing away with any "excessive" competition. He added, "We will augmenting and enhancing this new trend in business and e-business in general."

Also, AVBL plans to help foster venture start-ups wanting to develop and explore the possibilities in b2b-related core support technology as well as further develop workable business models for Korean business.

AVBL President Park Ji-hwan (32) who himself studied for an MBA in the U.S. said that they plan on providing "total portal service necessary for succeseul e-commerce as well as running the co-ordinated b2b network."