Lunch Meeting Hosted by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Korea
Choi Sang-mok, Acting President and Deputy Prime Minister as well as Minister of Economy and Finance, met with Chinese businesspeople on the 8th and urged continuous investment, stating that South Korea's economic system is stable.
On the same day, Acting President Choi held a luncheon meeting at the State Council Members' Cafeteria in the Government Seoul Office, inviting the China Chamber of Commerce in Korea (CCCK) and representatives of Chinese foreign-invested companies. On the Korean side, officials from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Office for Government Policy Coordination attended.
In his opening remarks at the meeting, Acting President Choi said, "Despite recent political circumstances, our economic system remains robust and operates stably under the government's emergency response system," adding, "The government is making every effort to ensure that all economic actors can conduct stable economic activities as usual by operating a permanent meeting body among economic and financial authorities."
He also mentioned, "Since establishing diplomatic relations in 1992, South Korea and China have been economic cooperation partners working closely together for global economic growth," and added, "This year, marking the 10th anniversary of the Korea-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA), we hope it will be a turning point for strengthening economic cooperation such as expanding trade and investment."
Acting President Choi further stated, "We plan to continue preparing various measures, including support packages for foreign-invested companies, so that Chinese companies can trust the Korean economy and actively continue their investment and business activities," urging companies to maintain their ongoing investments.
Attendees of the meeting, including Gao Chen, Chairman of the China Chamber of Commerce in Korea, expressed gratitude to Acting President Choi and the Korean government for their unwavering support for foreign-invested companies despite recent political situations. They also stated their intention to continue their business in Korea as before and requested efforts to stabilize the economic and financial systems so that foreign-invested companies can focus on their economic activities.
This meeting was held as a follow-up to the foreign chambers of commerce meeting in Korea on the 6th and as part of the major countries' chambers of commerce relay meetings planned last month by former Acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. It was organized for Acting President Choi to directly explain South Korea's economic situation and package policies for foreign-invested company investments to chambers of commerce and foreign-invested companies from various countries.
Acting President Choi plans to continue holding relay meetings with major countries' chambers of commerce and foreign-invested companies. On the 9th, he will hold a meeting with the European Union (EU) Chamber of Commerce in Korea and foreign-invested companies.
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