On February 13, the Roundtable
for Foreign Investors 2017
was held at the Four Seasons
Hotel in Seoul in a bid to listen
to the grievances and suggestions of
foreign-invested companies and seek
ways to swiftly resolve challenges.
Through this roundtable, the Korean government
strived to show its encouragement
and support towards foreign
investors doing business in Korea. So far,
foreign direct investment (FDI) in Korea
has reached a record high of over USD 20
billion in 2016.
The roundtable was hosted by the
Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy
(MOTIE) and organized by the Korea
Trade Investment Promotion Agency
(KOTRA). It stands as the nation’s first
roundtable with foreign investors in
Korea.
A total of 22 participants from foreign
chambers of Korea and CEOs of foreigninvested
companies took part in this
event. Attendees also included the Vice
Minister of MOTIE, officials from the
related government ministries and agencies,
and KOTRA. Notably, Acting
President Hwang Kyo-ahn met with foreign
investors and called for sustained
FDI in Korea. He also offered words of
encouragement and support to foreign
investors.
In his welcoming remarks, Hwang said
that there are many challenges ahead due
to both external and internal factors, such
as the rapidly changing international climate,
uncertainty over the global economy
and weak domestic demand. He went
on to say that the Korean government is
making utmost efforts to overcome these
obstacles and turn these challenges into
great opportunities.
Hwang also emphasized that the government is working tirelessly to stabilize
the Korean economy. He introduced various
government initiatives of economic
stabilization including contingency plans,
risk management and a close monitoring
of financial and foreign exchange markets.
Furthermore, he stressed that the
government will actively seek out ways
to revitalize the Korean economy through
support measures such as overseas market
expansion, revitalization of start-ups
and regulatory improvement.
The Acting President emphasized the
importance of foreign-invested companies
in Korea as they generate 13 percent
of total corporate revenues, 18 percent of
exports and 6 percent of the total employment
in the Korean economy. As such,
Hwang said he would step up efforts to
make things much easier for foreigninvested
companies to do business in
Korea, thereby creating high-quality jobs
in the country.
In his formal response to the Acting
President’s speech, American Chamber
of Commerce (AMCHAM) President and
CEO of GM Korea James Kim said that
he firmly believed that the Korean government
cares deeply about the opinions
of foreign-invested companies and will
make the business environment more
suitable for foreign investors.
Stefan Halusa, President of Korean-
German Chamber of Commerce and
Industry, mentioned that foreign-invested
companies in Korea have contributed significantly
to the country’s economy, and
they helped the Korean industry enhance
its global competitiveness. He added that
he would look forward to more constructive
and open dialogues between the
Korean government and foreign-invested
companies in Korea.
The meeting continued with a followup session on grievances and suggestions, which
was moderated by me, the Foreign
Investment Ombudsman, and presided by
MOTIE’s Vice Minister Taehee Woo.
Participants said that they had fruitful discussions
on ways to improve unreasonable
regulations.
As Foreign Investment Ombudsman,
not only attentively listening to foreign
investors' grievances, but solving them by
working with relevant government ministries
is key to improving Korea’s investment
climate. To this end, the Office of
the Foreign Investment Ombudsman
(OFIO) aims to conduct, on a regular
basis, grievance-resolution meetings with
foreign-invested companies by providing
more opportunities for effective two-way
communication. As a part of the OFIO’s
efforts, our office will continue to hold
more indepth and practical meetings for
foreign-invested companies, which are
grouped by industrial field. Along the
way, government officials from the
Office of Policy Coordination (OPC), in
charge of regulations, and MOTIE, in
charge of investment promotion, will be
invited to our upcoming events for foreign
investors.
I can strongly assure you that our office
will provide an ideal platform for both the
government and foreign investors to better
communicate with one another
through various foreign-investor meetings.
Bringing foreign investors’ concerns
to the government and having their opinions
reflected in the law-making process
can lay the groundwork for improved
business-friendly environment for foreign
investors.