KECA Jeju Summer Forum Closes: "Reviving Entrepreneurship to Lead Economic Development"

The '2025 KECA CEO Jeju Summer Forum' organized by the Korea Economic Cooperation Association, which was held over four days at Lotte Hotel Jeju starting on the 16th, concluded all its scheduled events and came to a close on the 19th.

Kim Changbeom, Vice Chairman of the Korea Economic Cooperation Association, is delivering the closing remarks at the '2025 KECA CEO Jeju Summer Forum' held at Lotte Hotel Jeju on the 19th. Photo by KECA

Kim Changbeom, Vice Chairman of the Korea Economic Cooperation Association, shared his thoughts in his closing remarks, stating, "Most of the lectures during the forum focused on challenge and innovation," and added, "I was once again reminded that all the driving forces to turn the current crisis into an opportunity and to prepare for a new future lie in entrepreneurship, challenge, and change."

He continued, "The Korea Economic Cooperation Association, founded in 1961, has already long surpassed its 60th anniversary," and said, "We will revive the spirit of entrepreneurship emphasized by the late Lee Byungchul, the first chairman of the association, and KECA will take the lead in contributing even more to the development of the national economy."

Meanwhile, on the final day of the forum, Kim Kwangseok, Head of Economic Research at the Korea Institute of Economic and Industrial Research, took the stage and gave a lecture on the topic, "Global Economic Outlook for the Second Half of 2025: The Launch of a New Administration and Major Changes."

He emphasized, "Ninety-four percent of companies perceive the current situation as an 'economic crisis,' but this means we are not just within the cycle of an economic crisis but have fallen further, making the situation even more difficult than a typical crisis," adding, "We must clearly recognize that we are in a state of entrenched low growth."

He further noted that while progressive governments typically focus on distribution, the current Lee Jaemyung administration is also placing significant emphasis on growth, highlighting the 'AI highway' as a key growth policy. Kim explained, "The goal is to create growth momentum through the AI highway, which essentially means building data center infrastructure," and shared that major companies such as SK Telecom, SK Hynix, and SK Broadband are participating in this initiative.