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Steve Ballmer says Microsoft to invest US$60m in S Korea

Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer yesterday unveiled a plan to invest US$60 million in South Korea’s software industry as part of the US giant’s drive to strengthen its presence in the country.

The plan was disclosed at talks between Ballmer and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, the president’s office said.

The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said Microsoft agreed to train software designers, support venture firms and establish a technology center in South Korea over three years.

Also yesterday, Ballmer said that growth through investment is the key for companies struggling to ride out an economic slowdown.

“The best solution for tough business times is growth, not contraction,” Ballmer told South Korean businessmen, adding that “now is not the time to forget that lesson.”

He said the US software company would not cut back on investment despite an expected slowdown in the global economy.

“We may grow our investment slightly less, but we’re not cutting our investment,” he said at a breakfast meeting in Seoul, Yonhap news agency said.

For years, Microsoft has been trying to expand its software dominance beyond offices and homes.

Last month it unveiled its new Windows software, Windows Azure, which can store and run user programs and data on a remote server on the Internet. The move came as the firm tries to compete with similar services from search engine Google.

“Some people will say is this in Microsoft’s best interest, I’ll say its inevitable, so it had better be in our best interest. That’s why you see us embracing this future, not resisting this future,” Ballmer said.

He said Microsoft is also focused on investing “broadly” in various fields, underscoring that what a company learns in one business can be applied to another.

Yesterday, Microsoft and South Korea’s Hyundai auto group opened a research center to develop new IT products and services for automotive application.

The firms “share a similar vision for the role that information technology will play in connecting people to information, communications and entertainment while they are in their cars,” Ballmer said in a statement.

Hyundai said the technologies developed at the center would be applied in its cars from the second half of 2010.

In May, the two forged a deal to develop a new in-vehicle music and entertainment system, which will be voice-controlled and linked to other hand-held devices.

The Hyundai group, which includes affiliate Kia Motors, controls 70 percent of the South Korea’s auto market and accounts for 5.4 percent of the nation’s GDP.
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