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Tue, March 21, 2023 | 20:31
Business
New AMCHAM leader calls for deregulation
암참 신임 회장 "한국정부, 규제 개혁·완화해야"
Posted : 2014-01-15 17:14
Updated : 2014-01-15 17:14
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James Kim, left, Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM Korea) and Country Manager of Microsoft Korea, gives his speech alongside Amy Jackson, President of AMCHAM Korea to the members of the press at the 'AMCHAM New Year's Press Conference 2014' held at Lotte Hotel in Seoul, Wednesday. / Yonhap
James Kim, left, Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM Korea) and Country Manager of Microsoft Korea, gives his speech alongside Amy Jackson, President of AMCHAM Korea to the members of the press at the "AMCHAM New Year's Press Conference 2014" held at Lotte Hotel in Seoul, Wednesday. / Yonhap

By Choi Kyong-ae


James Kim, the new chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM), called on Seoul, Wednesday, to further deregulate and offer predictability for foreign businesses.

In a press conference held in central Seoul, Kim and AMCHAM President Amy Jackson said improvements are needed to lure foreign investment into Korea.

The foreign business community was encouraged by President Park Geun-hye's recent pledge that her government, "will make the Korean economy more transparent and predictable by making the regulatory process more deliberative and by seeking increased interaction with stakeholders when formulating new policies," Kim told reporters.

In the process, "I hope I can leverage my multi-cultural and multi-lingual abilities to ensure that a win-win outcome becomes a reality," he said. Kim is the first Korean-American to become chairman of the American business lobby in Korea.

AMCHAM has led the foreign business community's request that the government take steps to ease the unpredictability of economic policies and excessive regulations in the business environment, which they say still remain a major hurdle for foreign companies.

Kim and Jackson acknowledged that the business and investment environments have improved a lot in recent years, and efforts are being made to decrease the amount of regulation and unpredictability.

Jackson said, however, "There are still many instances where rules and regulations in Korea that affect foreign businesses, as well as domestic businesses, change too quickly without adequate input from stakeholders and perhaps, in some cases, without adequate assessment on whether the new policies will have the desired effect without unintended consequences."

She went on to say that if you ask any AMCHAM member what the biggest hurdle is in doing business here, it is predictability and transparency in the marketplace. Companies, both domestic and foreign, need a predictable marketplace so they can adequately assess their personal needs, their costs, and how much money they can allocate in research and development, she said.

Jackson said, "This is one area President Park plans to focus on moving forward to try to take new procedures and steps to make sure that there is more predictability and transparency in the regulatory process," and noted the foreign community was happy to hear that

Kim said his information-technology career will help promote communication and business ties between the two countries. He currently serves as general manager and CEO of Microsoft Korea.

"Clearly times have changed a lot. We have our first female president and the U.S. Ambassador (to Korea) Sung Kim is the first Korean-American. With the IT side, times are changing rapidly. Given that the words innovation and creative economy are so important, I believe that my background in IT will be very helpful as we work together with Korea and U.S. industries," Kim said.

In line with the government's efforts to make the Korean economy more innovative and creative, U.S. companies are "considering expanding their presence in Korea or making new investments, so that they can form deeper partnerships with Korean partners, as well as employ talented Korean workers," he said.

To realize this "golden" opportunity to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and create jobs, he advised Korean companies to "not only continue with their reform and deregulation agenda, but to aggressively advance initiatives to improve Korea's creativeness and national competitiveness," said Kim.

"Competition for FDI has never been fiercer and Korea must be able to compete with the best of the best."

Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy, received $9.48 billion in FDI last year, down from the previous year's $10.6 billion, according to the trade ministry.

As foreign companies continue to ask the question, "Why should we invest in Korea?" ― particularly when they also consider countries such as China, Japan, India and Indonesia, which are much bigger in size than Korea ― Kim said Korea should have its own strengths.

"Even after being implemented, a constant cycle of feedback, assessment and fine-tuning through constant and close communication is crucial," he said.

Kim, 51, has been the chief of Microsoft Korea since February 2009. He was CEO of Yahoo Korea from 2007 after he worked as Asia regional vice-president of Overture, a wholly-owned unit of Yahoo, from 2005.

Kim began his one-year term as chairman on Jan. 1 replacing Patrick Gaines. He will continue to lead Microsoft Korea and his tenure with AMCHAM may be extended by another year at the discretion of the membership.


암참 신임 회장 "한국정부, 규제 개혁·완화해야"

신년 기자간담회…'지적재산권 보호·정책 피드백 필요'

제임스 김 주한미국상공회의소(AMCHAM·암참) 신임 회장은 15일 '한국 정부가 규제 개혁과 완화를 지속적으로 이행해 나가야 한다'고 말했다.

암참 회장직을 맡은 최초의 한국계 미국인인 김 회장은 이날 서울 롯데호텔에서 개최한 기자간담회에서 '기업과 소비자는 시장 선택에 제한이 없기 때문에 가장 최적화된 환경을 찾아 움직인다'며 이같이 밝혔다.

김 회장은 한국이 극복해야 할 과제로 지적재산권 보호와 혁신에 대한 보상을 꼽았다. 그래야만 지적재산권 침해에 대한 우려 없이 연구개발(R&D) 분야에 투자할 수 있도록 보장이 된다는 것이다.

아울러 김 회장은 한국이 새로운 정책을 실행하기 전 모든 이해관계자가 피드백을 주고 투명하게 개입할 수 있도록 보장해야 한다고 주장했다. 이해관계자와 협의 없이 정책을 추진하다 보면 의도하지 않은 결과가 나올 수 있기 때문이다.

김 회장은 '암참은 외국인직접투자를 저해하거나 혁신을 제한하며 불확실성을 유발하고 국제적 규범에 어긋나는 규칙·규제를 찾아내는 데 일조할 수 있다'며 한국 정부와 지속적인 소통을 희망했다.

에이미 잭슨 암참 대표는 다수의 외국계 기업이 한국에서 겪는 가장 큰 어려움은 예측가능성과 투명성이 떨어진다는 점이라고 지적했다.

그는 '한국에서는 기업 경영에 막대한 영향 미치는 새로운 규정이 너무 빠르게 바뀌는 경우가 있다'고 비판하면서도 '박근혜 대통령이 6일 간담회에서 새로운 정책을 도입할 때 이러한 부분을 보완하는 절차 도입을 약속해줘 기쁘다'고 전했다.

3월로 발효 2주년을 맞게 되는 한-미 FTA(자유무역협정)와 관련해 김 회장은 기획재정부가 지난해 3월 발표한 자료를 인용하며 '단순한 수출 증가량만 보자면 한국은 한미 FTA 혜택을 선점하고 있다'고 평가했다.

기획재정부 자료를 보면 한미 FTA가 이행된 첫해에 관세혜택을 받은 품목의 한국 대미 수출은 전년보다 10.4% 증가했고, 같은 기간 한국으로의 미국 수출은 4.1% 늘어났다.
Emailcka@koreatimes.co.kr Article ListMore articles by this reporter
 
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