Economic Groups Welcome President's New Year Economic Recovery Speech, Emphasizing "Urgent Need for Regulatory Reform"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] Economic organizations have unanimously welcomed President Moon Jae-in’s emphasis on economic recovery in his New Year’s address. However, they stressed that bold regulatory reforms are necessary first to achieve economic recovery.

The Korea Employers Federation stated on the 13th, "We agree with the president’s determination to restore the daily lives of the people from the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and to leap forward as a leading nation through a fast and strong economic recovery," adding, "This year, we hope the government and the business community will communicate more to overcome the economic crisis and create jobs."

The Federation emphasized, "The most urgent task to overcome the economic crisis caused by COVID-19 and to become a country leading the global economy is to revitalize the spirit of enterprises so that companies can freely invest and create jobs," and argued, "A groundbreaking policy shift is required to drastically ease regulations that hinder business management."

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry said, "Setting this year’s national administration goals as ‘recovery to pre-COVID-19 levels,’ ‘leap to a leading country,’ and ‘inclusion of vulnerable sectors’ is an appropriate policy direction," stressing, "Since the key is to boost enthusiasm for new businesses and economic vitality, it is necessary to innovate outdated laws and systems."

It added, "We hope macroeconomic management will be stable so that the real economy is not shocked during the process of stabilizing the overheated asset market," and "Especially, since expanding the foundation for inclusion must be accompanied by expanding the growth base, we ask for policy efforts in this regard."

The Federation of Korean Industries welcomed the president’s active commitment to full restoration of daily life and a fast and strong economic recovery through COVID-19 vaccination and the Korean New Deal.

The Federation urged, "Since large-scale fiscal spending is inevitable this year due to uncertainties caused by COVID-19, we ask the government to make greater efforts to improve the efficiency of fiscal policy," and emphasized, "In the long term, for our economy to recover to the pre-COVID growth path, it is important to keep in mind that recovery of private sector vitality beyond government-led economic stimulus is necessary when implementing economic policies."

The Korea International Trade Association said, "It mentioned the necessary measures in various economic and social sectors in a balanced manner based on the spirit of inclusion and coexistence so that our economy, which is struggling due to COVID-19, can recover quickly and strongly," and praised, "We highly appreciate the government’s determination to maintain the achievements of K-quarantine flawlessly and to boldly and swiftly expand the government’s fiscal and investment capabilities during the first half of the year to overcome the crisis."

It continued, "The trade industry hopes the government will actively respond to the global digital innovation and the Fourth Industrial Revolution trends caused by COVID-19 by accelerating the digital and green New Deal policies, and through this, find new growth engines for exports and continuously expand jobs," adding, "We hope that the decarbonization of the economic structure, globalization of K-content, and expansion of the global Free Trade Agreement (FTA) network will be carried out without setbacks so that our economy can flexibly respond to the new international trade order and successfully achieve a major transition to a leading economy."

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