[Photo by Namkung Jin-woong = timeid@ajunews.com]
South Korea’s top business executives on Monday predicted that 2016 will be a very challenging year for their companies due to weak global economic conditions and greater competition in key business sectors.
Kwon Oh-hyun, CEO of tech giant Samsung Electronics, said in a New Year's address that low global growth will persist this year, with greater uncertainty stemming from issues such as financial risks for emerging countries.
In a statement, Chung Mong-koo, chief of Hyundai Motor Group, also warned of a growing business uncertainties ahead for the auto industry.
"The world economy is expected to continue its low growth because of China's economic slowdown, low oil prices and jitters in emerging markets stemming from U.S. interest rate hikes," he said
Hyundai Motor affiliate Kia Motors said they expect their vehicle sales to rise 1.5 percent to 8.13 million vehicles this year, lagging industry growth forecasts, after missing their target in 2015 for the first time since the 2008 global financial crisis.
Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world’s biggest shipbuilder on Monday unveiled its order target of $19.5 billion in 2016, down from a target of $22.95 billion in 2015.
Low oil prices and complex designs have made high-end offshore floating production facilities for oil and gas loss-making for the world's three biggest shipbuilding groups, all South Korean, as demand shrinks and some orders are slashed.
According to a survey of 600 South Korean companies published last week, a majority of companies in South Korea are pessimistic about their business outlooks for this month, citing the impact from the recent rate hike by the U.S. and other downside factors such as falling commodity prices.
By Alex Lee
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
![[OPINION] Assessing the trajectory of Chinas Economy: Growth or decline](https://image.ajunews.com/content/image/2024/01/31/20240131173956149557.jpg)
