Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin heads to Israel Sunday to meet with the country’s Economy and Industry Minister, political and business leaders to seek business opportunities in the nation of startup and venture power, the group said Friday.

The South Korea’s fifth largest conglomerate has been paying attention to Israel’s high-tech startups. Shin is expected to explore ways to cooperate with the country’s tech firms in artificial intelligence, big data and fulfillment service in logistics, as part of efforts to develop omni-channel retailing, meaning an integration of offline and online commerce, and strengthen its e-commerce competitiveness.

On Sunday, Shin is scheduled to meet Eli Cohen, Israel’s Economy and Industry Minister who will introduce the Israeli government’s policy to support entrepreneurship and technology development and high-performing startups. Shin will also share Lotte’s experience in investing in promising startups, and the two will discuss ways to strengthen partnership in the long-term.

He meets Adib Barcuh, Chairman of the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute, on the following day and visits the nation’s startups and research centers - agricultural technology firm Tevel, food technology incubator The Kitchen established by the country’s largest food producer Strauss, largest venture capital fund Pitango Venture Capital, one of the world’s top five basic science institute Weizmann Institute and startup commercialization support provider The Bridge backed by Coca-Cola. He is expected to look for ways to benchmark the companies or create synergy with Lotte affiliates.

In search for next growth engines, Lotte has been focusing on developing new technologies and seeking cooperation with startups. It established its investment arm and startup booster Lotte Accelerator in January 2016 to incubate promising firms and nurture young entrepreneurs.

By Lee Han-na and Choi Mira

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