Pioneering the Excellence of K-Service
Emphasizing the Need for a Legal Foundation with the 'Basic Act on Service Industry Development'
"Fostering the Service Industry is the Final Piece for Korea’s Economic Growth"
Kim Sang-hyun, Vice Chairman and CEO of Lotte Shopping, was inaugurated on the 12th as the inaugural chairman of the Korea Economic Association's 'Service Industry Competitiveness Enhancement Committee.'
Since 2022, Vice Chairman Kim has been serving as the overall head of Lotte's distribution affiliates, including Lotte Department Store, Lotte Mart, Lotte Super, and Lotte e-Commerce. He is regarded as the right person to lead the strengthening and development of the domestic service industry's competitiveness, based on his expertise and know-how from serving as the CEO of various domestic and international distribution companies.
Kim Sang-hyun, Vice Chairman and CEO of Lotte Shopping. Vice Chairman Kim is delivering the opening address at the Korea Economic Association Service Industry Competitiveness Enhancement Committee. Provided by Lotte Distribution Group.
The Korea Economic Association established the Service Industry Committee for the first time this year to carry out various policy proposal activities aimed at enhancing the competitiveness of the service industry. As the growth strategy centered on domestic manufacturing has reached its limits, the goal is to foster the service industry, which has high added value and job creation effects, as a new growth engine for the future.
In his inaugural remarks, Vice Chairman Kim expressed his ambition to create new value called K-service. He said, "Beyond K-beauty and K-food, we will create new value called K-service and nurture it into an industry that the world pays attention to," adding, "We will strive to make Korea's service industry the vanguard of the globally recognized K-service industry."
Meanwhile, the Service Industry Committee held its first meeting at the FKI Tower Conference Center in Yeouido, Seoul, inviting a group called ‘Meeting for Strengthening the Global Competitiveness of the Korean Economy,’ composed of ruling and opposition party lawmakers. Eleven committee members, including Kim Sang-hyun, and four advisors attended the meeting, where the members cited on-site difficulties from their respective companies and proposed easing related regulations and tax support.
In his opening remarks, Vice Chairman Kim pointed out, "At a time when global protectionism is intensifying, it has become necessary to improve the productivity and competitiveness of the service industry," and noted, "Although service trade is rapidly growing in the global economy recently, Korea’s activation of innovative technology service industries is delayed due to various regulations and entry barriers."
He went on to say that a legal foundation such as the 'Basic Act on Service Industry Development' should be established to systematically support the service industry. He emphasized, “Policy support for the service sector should be expanded to the level of manufacturing, and service industry regulations should be eased to the level of advanced countries to promote corporate investment,” adding, “The fostering and development of the service industry will be the ‘final puzzle’ for restoring the growth potential of the Korean economy.”
The Service Industry Committee operates three subcommittees?▲Regulatory Innovation, ▲Human Resources & Productivity, and ▲New Industries?to lay the foundation for the advancement of the service industry. In addition to holding roundtable discussions with policy officials, the committee plans to select policy tasks derived from each subcommittee and deliver them to the National Assembly and government, aiming to improve insufficient support and discriminatory regulations compared to manufacturing. Furthermore, it intends to lead the expansion of investment in the service industry to strengthen its competitiveness.
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