Choo Kyung-ho: "Securing Future Growth Engines with New Growth 4.0 Strategy" (Comprehensive)

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho is presiding over the Emergency Economic Ministers' Meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 14th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] The government is establishing the 'New Growth 4.0 Strategy' to secure growth engines centered on future industries. To overcome the export slump caused by the global economic slowdown, bold incentives will be provided and regulatory innovation will be pursued.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho stated at the emergency economic ministers' meeting held at the Government Seoul Office on the 14th, "We intend to prepare and implement a systematic and comprehensive growth strategy to support the re-leap of our economy."

He emphasized, "We will upgrade the past growth strategies centered on Agriculture Growth 1.0, Manufacturing 2.0, and IT Industry 3.0 to establish the New Growth 4.0 Strategy," adding, "To this end, we will discover and promote key projects in future advanced fields, digital transformation, and securing strategic industry super-gap."

The intention is to support the re-leap of our economy by discovering future industries that will become new growth engines, following the overcoming of poverty through agriculture, entry into middle-income countries through manufacturing, and entry into advanced countries through the IT industry. The government plans to improve support systems such as research and development (R&D), finance, global cooperation, talent cultivation, and regulatory innovation to support the New Growth 4.0 Strategy.

The '2023 Economic Policy Direction,' to be announced by the government at the end of this month, will focus on 'overcoming crisis and re-leap.'

Deputy Prime Minister Choo diagnosed the current economic situation, saying, "The internal and external conditions facing our economy are very difficult," and "especially, the difficulties are likely to intensify in the first half of next year." He added, "Due to the decline in global economic growth rate and semiconductor market slowdown, the real economy slowdown centered on exports is becoming visible," and "although inflation has passed its peak and upward pressure has somewhat eased, it is expected to remain at a high level for the time being, and employment growth is also expected to slow significantly due to base effects." The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced the '2022 Asian Development Outlook Supplement (ADOS)' on the same day and lowered South Korea's growth rate for next year to 1.5% from the previous September forecast of 2.3%. The external sector weakened due to the global economic slowdown and rising energy prices, lowering the growth rate by 0.8 percentage points in three months.

Deputy Prime Minister Choo presented export support as a card to overcome the economic crisis. He explained, "The current difficulties in exports and investment will be resolved through bold incentives and regulatory innovation," and "we will reduce the burden of prices and living expenses, expand and strengthen jobs and safety nets to support the rapid recovery of the livelihood economy." He further explained the 2023 economic policy direction, saying, "We will proactively and preemptively respond to changes and risks in economic conditions to manage the macroeconomy stably," and "while accelerating structural reforms in five major sectors including public, labor, education, finance, and services, we will also strengthen preparations for the future such as population and climate crises and supply chain restructuring."

Deputy Prime Minister Choo stated, "The government will focus the 2023 economic policy on 'overcoming crisis and re-leap' under the recognition of the extraordinary situation," and "we will have in-depth discussions on the 2023 economic policy direction and the New Growth 4.0 Strategy implementation plan and announce them soon."

At the meeting, discussions were also held on public procurement innovation measures and food tech industry development plans. Deputy Prime Minister Choo said, "The government will undertake a large-scale reform of systems and practices to eradicate remaining irrationalities and unfairness in the public procurement market, which has grown to an annual scale of 184 trillion won," and "to enhance the competitiveness of the food tech industry, we will establish a dedicated food tech fund worth 100 billion won with the goal of achieving 2 billion dollars in food tech exports by 2027."