"Bold Regulatory Reform" Shared Intent... Public and Private Sectors Narrow the Gap

Meeting between Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Heads of Six Economic Organizations
Conveying Economic Sector's Requests for Regulatory Improvements
Yoon Administration's Continuous Corporate Engagement

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] As the new government continues its swift steps toward regulatory reform, expectations in the business community are growing. Starting with President Yoon Seok-yeol and joined by ministers of economic departments, there is a clear intention to actively accept the opinions and proposals of the business sector.

After President Yoon promised bold improvements in corporate regulations and major companies announced large-scale investment plans amounting to 1,000 trillion won, a new phase of public-private cooperation seems to be opening up.

According to the industry on the 2nd, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho will hold a meeting with the heads of six major economic organizations at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul, in the afternoon. Attendees include Chey Tae-won, Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Sohn Kyung-shik, Chairman of the Korea Employers Federation; Huh Chang-soo, Chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries; Kim Ki-moon, Chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs; Choi Jin-sik, Chairman of the Korea Association of Mid-sized Companies; and Lee Kwan-seop, Vice Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association.

At this meeting, the business community plans to deliver proposals to the new government. The proposals collected through each economic organization were consolidated by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In March, the Chamber delivered “10,000 public opinions” received via a communication platform to the Presidential Transition Committee, and in April, ahead of the Korea-US summit, it submitted “Proposals for Korea-US Economic Cooperation Tasks” to the Transition Committee and related ministries.

A representative from the Chamber said, "Recently, with high inflation, high exchange rates, and global supply chain instability overlapping, the business environment is deteriorating," adding, "The proposals reflect the voices of companies regarding regulatory improvements and institutional support as a continuation of suggestions previously delivered to the new government." The opinions from the business community presented at this meeting are expected to be reflected in the government’s economic policy direction for the second half of the year, to be announced later this month.

This month, companies are holding successive management strategy meetings ahead of the second half of the year to reassess the business situation, including responses to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and supply chain instability. Despite domestic and international crises, companies are focusing on fostering new growth engines by announcing investment plans worth 1,000 trillion won over the next five years.

The new government is responding to these corporate investments by pledging to remove regulations that have been holding companies back. At a senior secretaries meeting held on the 30th at the Yongsan Presidential Office building, President Yoon emphasized, "Now is the time for the government to respond by removing regulations that block corporate investment," adding, "All ministries must recognize themselves as regulatory reform departments and boldly abolish regulations that hinder corporate and economic activities."

Following the new government’s policy direction of corporate and private-led economic growth, ministers are also expected to continue their outreach to the business community. On the 24th, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo instructed the formation of task forces (TFs) for regulatory reform in 18 ministries at the Regulatory Innovation Ministerial Meeting, emphasizing, "National research institutes, business organizations, the government, and the Prime Minister’s Office must all take part."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Lee Chang-yang is also conducting a series of meetings with economic organizations as his first official activity after taking office. Following his meeting with Chairman Chey Tae-won on the 18th, he met with Chairman Koo Ja-yeol of the Korea International Trade Association on the 27th. Minister Lee stated, "We plan to prepare support measures for corporate facility investment, including various incentive expansions, in cooperation with related ministries," and added, "As a policy partner, we will create corporate growth strategies together with the industrial sector."

With this public-private cooperation, it is expected that solutions to regulatory improvement tasks long demanded by the business community can be found. There are numerous improvement tasks piled up, including industrial safety represented by the Serious Accident Punishment Act, as well as labor, environment, taxation, and fair trade issues.

A business community official said, "We strongly agree with the intention to actively resolve the difficulties faced by companies competing in the global market while carrying sandbags," expressing hope that "based on a strong will for regulatory innovation, practical and helpful alternatives will emerge."

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