It is possibly one term which many Malaysians do not understand. Chaebol is a large conglomerate which consists of many entities which involves itself in almost any and every industry in its own country Korea. Many had went abroad and made names for itself.
I am sure you have heard of LG, Hyundai, Daewoo, Samsung or the lesser-known-abroad Lotte.
Say, if I asked you what industry Hyundai is in, most would quickly reply automobile industry. But the fact that it is one of the largest ship builders in the world escaped all minds. Or the fact that it has a thriving construction unit.
Like Samsung who had once manufactured its own cars, had to give up that entity post financial crisis. Or Daewoo which had once been on the second spot after Hyundai in terms of size had to be broken up into many different units after financial crisis. What about Lotte who specialised in theme parks, shopping centres and food industry?
All these are actually family based or family origin businesses which grew big. Government had to work hand in hand to develop the economy. Call it cronyism but it had made South Korea a powerhouse that it is today. It was more or less like Malaysia, an agricultural based nation in the 60s. But rapid and efficient industrilisation though in the hands of a few (well managed few) managed to transform the nation into a first world in the short time span of 30-40 years. Malaysia is still at its developing stage.
There are no chaebol in Malaysia, not even close.
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