By Kim Yoo-chul

LS Cable, a leading local wire and cable solution provider, has completed a combined research and development (R&D) center by integrating its R&D section with that of LS Mtron.

``LS Cable and LS Mtron moved their R&D centers previously located in Anyang to the newly-built one in Gunpo. LS Cable is going to step up efforts to develop the company’s next growth engines as we’ve completed the construction of the center,’’ said spokesman Pete Kim, Sunday.

LS has research centers in South Korea, China, Europe and North America. The Gunpo R&D center will play a role as a control tower to organize and handle various company projects.

The new center has six stories on land of 12,700 square meters. A total of 500 research personnel will work there, while the building is with cutting-edge equipment to produce key products with the aim of cutting costs, LS said in a statement.

``LS Cable will focus on eco-friendly technologies such as nano technology and solutions for use in electric vehicles, which we identified as next-growth engines,’’ said Kim.

LS Mtron, which aims to generate 4 trillion won in revenue by the end of 2015, plans to use the new R&D center as the hub to further develop highly-competitive and advanced materials.

LS Cable is part of LS Corp, which has three other units that make machinery and industrial equipment, and refines copper.

``We raised our target for LS shares to 110,000 won from the previous 92,000 won as we are confident for early business normalization at LS Cable,’’ said Daewoo Securities, a leading local brokerage.