Choo Kyung-ho: "All Ministries Are Salespersons... Will Fully Commit to Creating a Favorable Investment Environment"

Meeting with the US-Korea Business Council and the US Companies Delegation in Korea Hosted by AmCham

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho stated on the 8th that "all ministries will work with the determination that they are salespeople to create a friendly investment environment" for economic cooperation between Korea and the United States.

On the same day, Deputy Prime Minister Choo made these remarks at a luncheon meeting with the U.S. business delegation in Korea, hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM), held at the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas Hotel.

This is the first time in seven years since former Deputy Prime Minister Yoo Il-ho in 2016 that the Deputy Prime Minister attended a meeting with the U.S. business delegation hosted by AMCHAM. The event was held to share awareness of Korea’s economic policy direction and discuss ways to develop economic cooperation between the two countries on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Korea-U.S. alliance and AMCHAM’s founding.

More than 100 executives from various sectors including finance, pharmaceuticals, automotive, and logistics, led by James Kim, Chairman and CEO of AMCHAM, attended the meeting.

After the luncheon with U.S. businesspeople in Korea, Deputy Prime Minister Choo delivered a keynote speech introducing this year’s economic policy stance in response to domestic and international economic conditions, and presented a new direction for economic cooperation between the two countries on the 70th anniversary of the Korea-U.S. alliance.

Regarding this year’s economic policy stance, Deputy Prime Minister Choo explained, "In response to difficult conditions such as the continued decline in exports, we are shifting the economic management paradigm from government-led to private and market-centered to overcome the immediate crisis and achieve economic re-leap." He introduced efforts to strengthen corporate investment tax support, labor market flexibility, and core regulatory innovation as part of policy efforts to create a business-friendly environment, and emphasized active efforts for the prompt passage of the K-Chips Act in the National Assembly.

He went on to mention that U.S. companies showed strong confidence in Korea’s economic resilience by investing the largest amount worldwide last year, totaling $8.7 billion, and stressed that the government will actively work to create a friendly investment environment so that Korea can become the top destination for foreign investment. He also expressed the intention to harmoniously resolve current issues such as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Semiconductor Support Act, while strengthening cooperation with the U.S. government in trade, supply chains, foreign exchange markets, and advanced sectors to ensure that U.S. companies in Korea can conduct stable business activities, and to promote private exchanges and cooperation based on the strong trust between the two countries.

Additionally, Deputy Prime Minister Choo listened to and discussed questions and suggestions regarding economic policy directions from the U.S. business delegation during the Q&A session.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho is delivering the keynote speech at the meeting with American companies in Korea held on the 8th at the Grand Intercontinental Hotel in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.