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Distinguished
Ladies and Gentlemen from the
media,
Distinguished Ambassadors and
EUCCK Committee Chairmen,
It is a pleasure and honor
for me to address this floor
in the name of all EUCCK members
and Committee Chairmen on the
occasion of this Press Conference
regarding our Chamber’s Trade
Issues and Recommendations for
2005.
The Trade Issues Press Conference
has become one of our Chamber’s
milestone events providing us
a rare look on the long-term
evolution of existing trade
barriers for EU businesses in
Korea in different industries,
their tendency to persist, to
worsen or also sometimes to
improve. It is also a privileged
communication channel between
the EU business community and
the Korean Government which
allows our relationship to grow
stronger although on a straightforward
and healthy basis.
However, I would like to take
this occasion again to remind
you our Chamber’s position on
the following strategic topics
that are vital to Korea’s economic
future.
1.
Northeast Asia Hub :
The EUCCK feels that Korea
currently lacks a real long-term
development project for the
future of its economy : we think
that the Northeast Asia Hub
project which appears to be
Korea’s only strategic response
to counter the rise of China
is an “ad-hoc” initiative. The
danger is that the Country is
destined to be only a logistics
“niche” by taking advantage
of Korea’s geographical position
between China, Japan and the
Russian Far-East, but missing
the greater & wider economical
opportunities.
EUCCK’s Recommendation
:
The EUCCK thinks that the piecemeal
opening of several localized FEZ
within Korea is far from sufficient
to make FDI here an alternative
option to FDI in China. China
itself has FEZs in so many cities
with attractive conditions supported
by its very strong economic growth
and the usual low costs. The only
real long-term option for Korea
would be to turn the entire country
into a free trade zone : this
move would transform Korea into
the “Free Trade Hub” of Northeast
Asia by taking advantage of its
value-added hi-tech sectors and
first class infrastructure creating
a very competitive services platform
for the surrounding countries
following the examples of Singapore
and Dubai. This is a proposal
that China can never offer because
it is too large to consider such
an economic model.
2.
Korean Logistics :
Efficiency of Korean ports
and airport facilities lags
behind that of other comparable
Asian cities like Shanghai or
Hong-Kong. The Logistics Committee
of the EUCCK is worried that
despite the high quality of
Korea’s port infrastructures,
the competitiveness of these
ports is being challenged by
stiff regulations and unsatisfactory
cargo handling and transportation
procedures which play to Korea’s
disadvantage. At Incheon airport,
the advantage of excellent cargo
handling skills is offset by
sudden and steep price increases
which only eliminate its competitive
edge.
EUCCK’s Recommendation
:
We would recommend that particular
attention be paid to improve the
predictability of new regulations
and limit price changes as much
as possible so that companies
can react accordingly and are
given enough time to incorporate
those changes into their business
plans.
3.
Korea’s Regulatory Framework :
The EUCCK feels that Korea’s
regulatory framework is still
much mired in red-tape and lack
of coordination between the
various administrations. This
problem is worsened by the administration’s
poor external communication
on laws and regulations as well
as by the scarcity and lack
of precision in English translations
of official documents.
EUCCK’s Recommendation
:
We recommend that great attention
be paid to streamline all administrations
towards more transparency and
a more “user-friendly” service
with all rules and regulations
in all industries and sectors
duly translated in English and
easily available.
4.
Korea’s Image Positioning :
We feel that Korea is not successful
in promoting its image abroad
for foreign investors, mainly
due to the lack of coordinated
Government efforts for the promotion
of FDI and the less than satisfactory
performance of Korean investment
promotion organizations abroad.
EUCCK receives countless requests
from European companies who
seek help for solving their
trade problems after having
unsuccessfully contacted Korean
trade promotion offices in Europe.
EUCCK’s Recommendation
:
In order to build a positive
image abroad, we think that
Korea’s tourism potential should
be cleverly harnessed because
until now, this industry has
been grossly neglected by the
Korean authorities and the consequences
of this negative attitude are
far-reaching : tourism is an
extremely powerful image building
industry and a well devised
long-term tourism development
policy helps a great deal to
raise the international profile
of a country.
5.
IPR Issues :
IPR Issues continue to be a
major barrier to attract more
foreign direct investment in
Korea. The issue is a very serious
one and Korea’s bad image in
this respect repels foreign
investors willing to bring advanced
technologies and processes to
this market for fear of losing
billions to piracy, counterfeiting
and fraud.
EUCCK’s Recommendation
:
We feel that Korea can easily
secure a competitive edge over
China just by seriously enforcing
its existing IPR regulations.
The strict observance of those
IPR regulations, if achieved,
will have a very positive impact
on Korea’s overall image with
foreign investors.
For this year’s edition of the
Trade Issues and Recommendations
Press Conference, we have the
honor to welcome the following
EUCCK Committee Chairmen who
will brief you on the updated
situation of the key EU industries
they represent in the Korean
market as per the Agenda distributed
to you this morning.
After the short briefing of
the selected Committee Chairmen,
there will be a Q&A session
between 10:45 and 11:25 and
I invite you to ask your questions
to all the Representatives of
EUCCK Committees present in
this room.
Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you
very much for your attention |
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