The annual Jeju Forum opened its doors on Wednesday on Korea's southern resort island of Jeju.
Organized by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry,... the event is a place for experts, business tycoons and government officials to thrash out the latest socio-economic issues facing South Korea and beyond.
Kim Hyesung reports from Jeju.
Around 600 government officials, business leaders and scholars gathered on Korea's southern Jeju Island for the 44th Jeju Forum, under the theme "The Korean economy, new path of innovation and growth."
"Potential economic growth has fallen but now, the fast follower growth model is no longer effective, either. So we need a change in economic direction, one that implies sustainable and inclusive growth."
As the first speaker of the event, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki elaborated on the Moon administration's economic policies of income-led growth, fair economy and innovative growth,...and added that the government has injected flexibility with the 52-hour-work week system.
For a new path, Minister Hong said innovation is critical in the manufacturing and services sectors, as well as in new industries like future cars and platform economy.
The ongoing U.S.-China trade spat, and Tokyo's export curbs on Seoul were also key discussion points.
"Korean businesses face a difficult situation with Japan's trade restrictions. To help diversify imports, produce domestic parts, develop goods and push for R&D, deregulation is critical. We call for cooperation between the government and rival parties to come up with the right measures."
The KCCI chairman said while the government's latest announcement to help increase investment is encouraging, deregulation and legal flexibility are needed to actually enable private firms to develop new goods.
Citing a rise in digital technologies and AI, scholars represented by Richard Baldwin, Professor of the Graduate Institute in Geneva, said there's not only disruption in manufacturing due to robots, but Korean companies will also need to prepare for a disruption in the services sector and a changing kind of work environment like telecommuting...which is already happening rapidly in the U.S. and India
The four-day Jeju Forum will run through Saturday on topics ranging from boosting small- and mid-sized firms' competitiveness... to the Fourth Industrial Revolution and new socioeconomic trends.
Kim Hyesung, Arirang News, Jeju.
