Chairman Chey Tae-won of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that Korea’s manufacturing industry is facing “a lost decade.”
“From 10 years ago, many people issued warnings, and new industry policies and strategies should have been presented,” Chmn. Chey said.
But people thought they were doing well and making good money, so for the past decade Korea has been standing still and getting old, he said.
Chmn. Chey made the remarks at a meeting with reporters on July 20 on the sidelines of the 48th KCCI Summer Forum.
He stressed the need for an AI-oriented industry paradigm shift, saying, “If we cannot get our manufacturing industry back on track through AI, unfortunately our industry will be almost be thrown out of the market in the upcoming 10 years.”
He pointed out that the global competitive environment was transformed while Korea was passing through the lost decades period.
“As the competitiveness of the Chinese manufacturing industry is getting better, exports to China have declined and Korea is squaring off with China in third countries, and the (Korean) petrochemical industry is no longer a rival to the Middle East, India and China,” Chmn. Chey said.
“Countries such as China have been chasing Korea, and they have already surpassed Korea in some areas,” he added.
Chmn. Chey emphasized the need for AI-oriented strategies. “Our only hope is AI, and even in the AI sector, China is catching up, with the speed of application getting faster than us, and as it is at an initial stage, now we have to catch up,” he said.
Chmn. Chey warned that it is too optimistic to think that just because Korea has done so well in the past, so it will do so in the future. Chmn. Chey suggested Korea could team up with Japan to secure the competitiveness of the AI sector.
He said, “The scale of Korea’s data is too small, Korea needs to do well in the AI field and join forces with China to exchange data and Korea find it not easy to secure the competitiveness of the AI sector on her own.”
Chmn. Chey addressed major pending issues during the one-hour meeting with reporters.
As for the President Lee Jae-myung government, he said if Korea’s growth is to be put on the right track, the private and public sectors have to form one team.
He mentioned countermeasures against the planned controversial revisions, such as mandatory treasury stock cancellation and the Commercial Act, but did not go into detail on those matters.
Regarding the booming stock market, as the Kospi surpassed the 3,200 milestone, he expressed hope that this momentum would bring about a virtuous cycle of encouraging Korean companies to invest more.
As for the APEC Summit, slated for late October, Chmn. Chey said, “Korea could manage to complete physical preparations, such as accommodation and transportation on time, but worry is that the successful hosting of the APEC Summit requires soft elements, and it is not a simple event. But specific ones, such as corporate cooperation with other countries and the signing of MOUs, are required.”
Prime Minister Kim Says ‘Govt. and Companies Join Forces to Overcome Economic Crisis’
Prime Minister Kim Min-seok participated in the 48th KCCI Summer Forum at Lahan Select Gyeongju on July 16 and gave a lecture to about 600 people, including businesspeople.
An opening session of the forum was attended by dignitaries, including KCCI Chmn. Chey Tae-won, Gyeongsangbuk-do Gov. Lee Cheol-woo and Gyeongju Mayor Joo Nak-young.
Prime Minister Kim said, “The current economic situation is a structural and complex crisis, to be dubbed the ’second 1997 Asian financial crisis,’ and the government, the private sector and all the people will have to gather pan-national energy to overcome such a crisis.”
Prime Minister Kim suggested his government’s strategies to transfer a crisis into an opportunity amid complex global order changes.
He introduced the “ADBCEF” growth policies, prioritizing AI, bio, content & culture, defense, energy, and (high-tech) factories, and called for the nurturing of future growth engines on top of recovering public livelihoods.
He reiterated his pledge to maintain close communication and cooperation with the private sector to realize these national strategies.
Prime Minister Kim said Gyeongju, the venue of the upcoming APEC Summit, should seize on the opportunity to make the event a starting point for Korea’s leap into becoming a cultural leader.
Prime Minister Kim said he would ramp up communication with economic circles and strive to provide policy support to overcome an economic crisis and take another leap.
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