KOFIA Holds Summer Press Conference on July 16
"Now is a critical golden time to resolve the Korea Discount and leap forward into the era of the 'Korea Premium.'"
Seo Yuseok, Chairman of the Korea Financial Investment Association, made this statement at the 'KOFIA Summer Press Conference' held on July 16, saying, "Thanks to the new government's market-friendly policies, expectations for the KOSPI 5000 era are rising."
He said, "The policy shift from an asset accumulation structure centered on policy finance to a capital formation system centered on the stock market is a very encouraging change," and emphasized, "The association will continue to play a central role in this trend."
Chairman Seo cited the following as major achievements since taking office: ▲ expansion of the industry's scope and system improvements ▲ creation of a long-term investment environment and reform of the pension market ▲ establishment of a foundation for innovative finance and new industries ▲ efforts to stabilize the capital market.
Among these, he introduced the effort to resolve the liquidity crisis in the real estate project financing (PF) market as one of the most memorable achievements. He said, "When I first took office, the industry was struggling significantly," and added, "We worked to prevent the financial market from freezing due to real estate PF issues, and fortunately, the situation has now stabilized." He explained, "We normalized the market by operating a securities company-guaranteed asset-backed commercial paper (PF-ABCP) purchase program worth 1.8 trillion won."
He also expressed expectations that the 'Measures to Strengthen Corporate Finance Competitiveness in the Securities Industry,' centered on the comprehensive financial investment business entity (Jongtusa) system reform announced in April this year, will play an important role in revitalizing corporate finance. He emphasized, "The core of these measures is the supply of venture capital," and added, "This is, in fact, another milestone for our securities industry since the introduction of the Jongtusa system."
He also pointed out that concerns about a decrease in tax revenue due to the recent issue of separate taxation of dividend income are excessive. He said, "Although there is a frame of tax cuts for the wealthy, in reality, dividend income tax itself will increase, so the decrease in tax revenue will not be as much as feared," and added, "As dividends increase, not only major shareholders but also general investors will receive more money, which will lead to increased consumption."
Chairman Seo stated that he will continue to pursue the remaining tasks without wavering. The remaining tasks include ▲ expanding tax exemption for Individual Savings Accounts (ISA) ▲ legislation for the Our Child Independence Fund ▲ direct listing of public offering funds ▲ support for Jongtusa's entry into new businesses ▲ allowing payment and settlement services ▲ introduction of Business Development Companies (BDC).
He emphasized, "KOSPI 5000 is not simply a rise in the index, but a goal that can only be achieved if the structural framework of society changes so that our capital market and real economy can qualitatively advance to the next level," and added, "There are still many tasks remaining, but we will pursue them without wavering."
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