President Moon to Hold Economic Leaders Meeting Around 18th... Full Effort to Revive Economy Amid COVID-19 Impact

President Moon Jae-in [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Son Sunhee] President Moon Jae-in will hold a meeting with key economic stakeholders next week. This is to accelerate the preparation of countermeasures as the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to become apparent in the first quarter of this year.

According to the Blue House on the 11th, President Moon plans to invite economic stakeholders, including government ministries related to the economy, the ruling party, and heads of economic organizations, to the Blue House around the 18th to discuss public-private cooperation measures to revitalize the economy.

The meeting is expected to be attended by Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, ministers of economic-related ministries such as the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and Ministry of Employment and Labor, as well as key economic aides from the Blue House including Kim Sang-jo, Chief of the Policy Office, and Lee Ho-seung, Senior Secretary for Economic Affairs. Additionally, from the Democratic Party of Korea, floor leader Lee In-young and policy committee chairman Cho Jung-sik are expected to attend, along with major economic organization heads such as Park Yong-man, Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Son Kyung-sik, Chairman of the Korea Employers Federation.

Since the COVID-19 crisis has severely impacted industries such as travel and flower farming, representatives of small business owners are also expected to attend to report on the current economic situation. To discuss financial support measures, heads of major policy banks including KDB Industrial Bank, Export-Import Bank of Korea, and IBK Industrial Bank are also reportedly included among the invitees.

The Blue House stated that although the number of new COVID-19 cases has been declining this month, the crisis alert level remains at 'serious,' so prevention remains the top priority rather than premature optimism. However, as the economic impact in the first quarter is expected to be severe due to this crisis, there is a judgment that extraordinary measures must be taken to 'revive the economy.'

In fact, credit rating agency Moody's lowered South Korea's real GDP growth forecast for this year from 1.9% to 1.4% by 0.5 percentage points in a report released on the 6th.

Regarding this, President Moon recently instructed at an internal meeting attended by key aides, "For businesspeople, consider allowing entry exceptionally if they possess a health status certificate." This is to support economic activities in countries such as Vietnam, where domestic companies are actively expanding, and which have imposed entry restrictions on South Korea, so that economic activities are not hampered.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.