1st Vice Minister Choo Hyung-hwan of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.

First Vice Minister Choo speaks on the nation’s economy at the 61st KSA Summer CEO Forum held on July 29-Aug. 1 at Jeju Lottee Hotel.(Photos:MOSF)

First Vice Minister Choo Hyung-hwan of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance attended the 61st Summer CEO Forum hosted by Korea Standards Association as one of the guest speakers. The event was from July 29-Aug. 1 at Jeju Lotte Hotel.

In his speech titled, “A Diagnosis of the Korean Economy and Its Directions,” the government official spoke about government measures to boost the economy through increased government spending and expanded consumption and investments, structural reform in four major areas to improve the economic structure and risk management including preemptive measures.

With the spread of MERS having been arrested, and the supplementary budget passing the Assembly, the government is going all out to revive the economy, he said. The government is also going all out to provide jobs for youths by reforming the labor market, which the government regards the key area for reform to make economic growth dynamic again. It’s a pressing social and economic issue, in view of the fact that some 1.16 million youths are without a job and joblessness among youths could get worse in the next three years.

He called on both large and small businesses to start youth job internships to help youths get a foot in the door. 

According to the direction of government economic policies for the second half of the year, the government priority will go to investments in the expansion of installations and construction with the government setting aside 2 trillion won for investment in key areas with great potential for growth like loT, and ICT and rebuilding old buildings and spur remodeling of old government buildings.

The government will also prioritize policies to revive tourism, which cooled due to MERS, with a number of government measures to help its recovery. The government will provide support to the production of commercial films starring the Korean entertainment celebrities, sales at large department stores to catch on around the country and relax immigration procedures at ports of entry around the country.

The measures also include government support to the production of Korean-style (Hallyu) entertainment materials tailor-made for foreign tourists preference like K-Pop performances, Korean foods and the Korean beauty industry, including Korean cosmetic products. The easing conditions for opening duty free shops is among the measures, as is simplifying the procedures for the return of value added taxes to foreign tourists.

The government will also give priority to expand exports further by strengthening its support to facility investments for major export products and the future generation export products and the expansion of the R&D related to those export products. The government plans to legislate a law on measures to boot support for M&As by business firms at home and abroad through taxation so that business firms would spur restructuring. 

The government will also provide 16.2 trillion won in financial support for trade finance and encourage Korean construction firms to enter infrastructure markets in Asia, particularly China. The government will encourage overseas investments by domestic firms, including no taxes on private funds for overseas securities provided that over 60 percent of those funds are invested in securities overseas and maintained it over 10 years. The government will also ease the requirement for reports on foreign exchange transactions related to foreign direct investments.