CJ Group Chairman Lee Jay-hyun visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for about a week starting on the 6th to seek business cooperation plans with key government figures and to assess the potential for expanding into the Middle East market. After showing a global, wide-ranging itinerary this year starting in Japan and moving through the United States and Europe, Lee chose the Middle East as the final stop.
According to CJ Group on the 17th, Lee Mie-kyung, CJ vice chair, Kim Hong-ki, CEO of CJ Corporation, Yoon Sang-hyun, CEO of CJ ENM, and Lee Sun-ho, head of future planning at CJ Corporation, accompanied the visit to the UAE.
Lee first met Khaldoon Al Mubarak, head of the UAE Executive Affairs Authority and CEO of sovereign wealth funds Mubadala, to discuss cooperation plans in culture and the economy. Khaldoon, a key figure who led bilateral cooperation during last month's Korea-UAE summit, also met Lee during on-site management in the United Kingdom in Sept.
He then held meetings with Mohamed Al Mubarak, chair of the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism, and Abdulla Al Hammadi, chair of the UAE National Media Office. They discussed concrete possibilities for local cooperation and business strategies across culture, including media, content, tourism, and sports. CJ plans to promote live events such as KCON through partnerships with government agencies and local media corporations, support content production and investment, and build global production infrastructure.
In addition, Lee met Gregoryyev, head of the food division at CJ CheilJedang, and local executives and employees to focus on halal growth strategies for food. The strategy is to build a halal food portfolio centered on the regional hubs of the UAE and Saudi Arabia and to ramp up the Middle East K-food business by expanding countries and product lineups.
At the meeting, Lee said, "In the Middle East market, which has high potential, we must never miss the K-wave and must create new growth engines," and added, "To leap forward as a global company leading the lifestyle of people around the world, we need urgency about growth and must stake everything on expanding new territories."
This was Lee's first visit to the Middle East in about a year since an official invitation from the Saudi Ministry of Culture in Sept. last year. CJ Group signed MOUs related to food and beauty during last month's Korea-UAE summit. In food, CJ CheilJedang and the UAE corporation Al Khayyat Investments (AKI) exchanged a memorandum of understanding. AKI, a corporation engaged in diverse businesses including food, healthcare, and retail, is expected to help distribute K-food brands such as Bibigo.
CJ Olive Young joined hands with Life Healthcare Group (LHG), a UAE-based leading Middle East healthcare distributor. LHG operates more than 500 offline drugstore locations and an online mall across the UAE, making it an optimal partner to expand K-beauty's local footprint.
With this on-site management as a springboard, CJ plans to expand its business across key areas in the Middle East, including food, entertainment, and beauty. CJ CheilJedang selected the halal-certified "Bibigo seaweed snack" and "stir-fried noodles" as strategic products for the Middle East and, in cooperation with AKI, will push to expand placements in major local distribution channels. Olive Young plans to leverage its product sourcing capabilities and LHG's network to support market entry and sales expansion for promising K-beauty brands. CJ ENM, based on its Saudi Arabia subsidiary "CJ ENM Middle East," will expand its business scale through cooperation with local broadcasters and content companies, including live concerts and discovering local star IP.
On the 16th, Lee also received Salem bin Khalid Al Qassimi, Minister of Culture of the UAE, Abdulla Saif Al Nuaimi, the UAE ambassador to Korea, and other UAE Culture Ministry officials at the CJ Talent Institute in Pildong. Both sides discussed premium content production and investment, the use of AI technology, and cooperation on K-beauty exports.