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| Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Yoon Sang-jick speaks during a meeting with CEOs of foreign companies and representatives of foreign business associations here at the COEX InterContinental Hotel in southern Seoul, Monday. The minister called on foreign business leaders to invest more in Korea. / Yonhap |
By Lee Hyo-sik
Trade Minister Yoon Sang-jick met with heads of foreign companies here Monday, calling on them to expand their presence in Asia's fourth-largest economy.
Yoon said the government will do everything it can to achieve its goal of attracting more than $20 billion in investment from abroad this year by creating a friendlier foreign-business environment.
"Korea has become an ideal place for multinational companies seeking to expand in Asia since it signed a free trade agreement with China, the world's fastest-growing economy," the minister said at a breakfast meeting with 40 CEOs of non-Korean firms and representatives of foreign business associations here.
"The government will better listen to foreign companies and reflect their opinions in policies. Policymakers, including myself, will make every effort to help make it easier for foreign businesses to do business in Korea," Yoon said.
The meeting participants included Siemens Korea CEO Rochus Bergnam and Lee Young-kwan, CEO of Toray Advanced Materials Korea, as well as Amy Jackson, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea and Graham Dodds, chairman of the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Korea.
Yoon said multinational companies should capitalize on Korea's geographical proximity and establish a foothold before moving into China.
"We believe that foreign companies and investors will realize huge benefits if investing in the nation's premium consumer product manufacturing, finance, cultural content and logistics industries," he said. "The government will organize gatherings with foreign businesspeople more often so that policymakers can better understand what non-Korean businesses need for doing business here."
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