Invest KOREA

According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL=Yonhap News) President Park Geun-hye on Wednesday asked businessmen to focus on what consumers need instead of worrying about a slowdown in sales and exports.

South Korea's exports reached US$36.4 billion last month, compared to $41.5 billion from a year ago, according to government data. Exports have been on a steady decline since the first month of 2015 due to weak overseas demand amid a global economic slowdown and low oil prices.

Park said research on consumer needs could lead to increased sales and value, citing a new honey product contained in a plastic tube as an example.

Park said the new product is an outcome of a creative idea that has addressed the issue of the stickiness of honey.

She made the comments during a visit to an innovation center in the country's second-largest city of Busan, the latest in a series of tours meant to boost startups and small companies.

Park has pushed for her signature creative economy, a policy that calls for turning creative ideas into real businesses with the help of cutting-edge science, expertise and information technology.

The head of the honey tube making company said sales have jumped to 90 million won (US$75,000) in about three months as his products entered convenience stores, home shopping and duty free shops -- all units of the Lotte Group.

The Lotte Group, which plays a key role in the innovation center in Busan, is South Korea's fifth-largest family-controlled conglomerate. Its key businesses include department stores, discount chains and duty-free stores.

Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin said at the innovation center in Busan that the conglomerate will hire 16,000 people and invest 1.15 billion won, although he did not elaborate.

Park also received a briefing from the head of the innovation center in Busan that sales generated by firms that received assistance from the center came to 16.3 billion won since it was established a year ago.

The innovation center in Busan said it will help startups and small firms at the center make inroads into foreign markets.

South Korea has set up a total of 17 innovation centers in major cities to match up local startups and venture firms with conglomerates that can provide resources to the smaller companies so that they can turn creative ideas into real businesses.

Also Wednesday, Park pledged to make efforts to create more jobs for elderly South Koreans as she met with dozens of senior citizens in Busan.

Park said the government is pushing to create more than 50,000 jobs every year so that those who want to find jobs can work and enjoy a meaningful life.

She made the comments during a visit to a welfare center for the elderly in Busan.

The jobless rate among people aged 60 and older stood at 6.2 percent last month, compared with 5.6 percent from the same period of last year, according to state data.

entropy@yna.co.kr

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