Sung Yun-mo: "Korea Turns COVID Crisis into Opportunity... Actively Encouraging Foreign Investment Companies"

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Sung Yun-mo, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy./Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] Sung Yun-mo, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, met with representatives of foreign-invested companies (FICs) on the 6th and urged them to "actively participate in the process of turning Korea's crisis into an opportunity."

Minister Sung made these remarks while attending a meeting with foreign-invested companies responding to COVID-19 held at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, where he met with representatives from the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea, the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea, the Seoul Japan Club, and foreign-invested businesspeople.

The event was held to encourage foreign-invested companies that cooperated in responding to COVID-19 and to seek ways to jointly overcome the economic crisis.

Minister Sung expressed his gratitude to the foreign chambers of commerce in Korea and foreign-invested companies that trusted the Korean government during the COVID-19 response process. He especially highly praised the role of foreign-invested companies such as Korea Toray, which cooperated in converting production facilities to stabilize the supply of mask filter materials.

He said, "After COVID-19, economic and social structures will unfold differently from before, including a decrease in investment and trade between countries and a reorganization of global value chains," and encouraged, "We ask foreign-invested companies to actively participate in the process of turning this crisis into an opportunity."

Representatives of foreign-invested companies highly evaluated Korea's response to COVID-19 and expressed their determination to devote all their capabilities to the future economic recovery process.

In particular, they said, "As Korea's leadership was revealed during the COVID-19 response process, future economic reforms will gain momentum," and "Global cooperation across infectious disease response and the overall economy based on world-leading digital technology is important."

James Kim, Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea, said, "As measures to revitalize the economy are discussed, foreign-invested companies will mobilize all available resources," and presented the 'Joint Proposal of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea on COVID-19 Response' on behalf of the group.

The joint proposal included ▲ regulatory improvements and expanded policy communication ▲ granting benefits of economic revitalization support measures to foreign-invested companies ▲ cooperation with foreign governments to ease entry standards for businesspeople.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy plans to focus on ▲ strengthening international cooperation for the international standardization of the K-quarantine model and human and material exchanges ▲ advancing the competitiveness of key industries combined with digital technology and fostering new industries such as K-bio ▲ expanding and regularizing communication channels to activate investment and resolve difficulties.

The ministry also announced plans to utilize various support measures for foreign-invested companies and strengthen the COVID-19 grievance resolution function through the foreign investment ombudsman, including consultation on difficulties related to entry and exit.

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