resident Park Geun-hye called Thursday for an overhaul of South Korea’s regulations to help induce more foreign investment as part of efforts to boost Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
Foreign direct investment in South Korea dipped 1.5 percent last year to $35.07 billion, down from $35.59 billion in 2013, according to the government data.
Park also reiterated her stance that local companies need to make inroads into foreign countries, saying that South Korea should take advantage of the coming second Middle East boom.
She said the leaders of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar whom she met during her recent tour of the four Gulf States view South Korea as a role model of new economic growth as their countries and companies have deep trust in South Korean workers.
South Korea has a competitive edge in health care and information and communications technology, areas into which oil-rich Mideast countries are pushing to tap as part of their efforts to diversify their economic portfolios ahead of the inevitable advent of a post-oil era.
She said the attempt by Mideast countries to diversify their economic portfolios could offer new business opportunities for South Korean companies in what she calls the coming second Middle East boom.
In the 1970s, many Korean workers sent home hard-earned cash from sweating at construction sites in the Middle East region, which officials called the first Middle East boom. It helped South Korea transform into an economic powerhouse from the ashes of the 1950-53 Korean War.
“We need to improve a system related with foreign investment to ensure that heightened interest in South Korea by Middle East investors can lead to their investment in South Korea,” Park said in a meeting at the presidential office meant to promote trade and investment. (Yonhap)
