By Lito Camacho
Vice Chairman of Credit Suisse Asia Pacific
It's an exciting time for Korea. The country finds itself at the crossroads for many of its industries and markets and is very strongly positioned to capture some of the huge opportunities that now lie before it.
As Asia's third largest economy and the 10th largest in the world, Korea and Korean companies have long been very successful at expanding their reach, range of activities and influence both in Asia and globally.
From the appointment of Ban Ki-moon as the United Nations Secretary-General to a growing list of international brand names in consumer electronics, technology and heavy industries, Korea's commitment and determination to upgrade its ``outward-looking'' developed economy image is commendable.
At Credit Suisse we are proud to have played a role in so many of these changes, advising companies, raising financing and assisting in attracting international investment into Korea.
In our view, the future is even brighter. In the financial services sector, Korea is going through many changes that will require quick and appropriate responses from the local financial institutions and the Korean government.
One of the key issues is the globalization of the financial industry. This trend is inevitable as highlighted by the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement signed this year, where Korea will need to deregulate and further open up the financial sector so that both foreign and domestic financial institutions enjoy a level playing field.
These are positive developments and will do much to assist Korea in achieving its own goal of becoming a regional financial center that can compete internationally against other financial markets and institutions.
This combination of ``push'' and ``pull'' factors seem to suggest that time is ripe for further structural changes in Korea's financial industry.
Indeed, the implementation of the Capital Market Consolidation Act (CMCA) in 2009 will integrate financial service functions and ease the ability of banks and brokerages to offer new financial products.
It is hoped that the act will pave the way for a full gamut of capital market services, including more structured products.