Foreign Investors Forum 2015

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Yoon Sang-jick, fourth from right at the table, receives a round of applause as he is introduced as a guest speaker during The Korea Times’ Foreign Investors Forum 2015 at the Plaza Hotel, Friday morning. From left are Kim Hyo-joon, BMW Korea CEO; Lili Luo, Tribeluga president; Yoon; Sergio Rocha, GM Korea president; Koro Bessho, Japanese ambassador; and Rep. Chun Soon-ok of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy. / Korea Times

Minister reveals step-by-step plan

By Lee Hyo-sik

Korea will double efforts to attract more investment from China to reinvigorate its increasingly slowing economy, the nation’s trade minister said Friday.

Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Yoon Sang-jick said the government is seeking private-sector capital rather than China’s massive state-run funds, adding that government-level talks between the two countries are needed before Korea opens its doors to China’s public companies.

“Korean companies have been investing in China for many years,” Yoon said during The Korea Times’ Foreign Investors Forum 2015. “But Chinese firms have just begun putting money here.

“We would like to draw as much investment as possible from China’s private sector. But we need to talk first with our Chinese counterparts and decide how we do business together before allowing China’s public enterprises or state-run funds to enter Korea,” he said.

Korea’s top English daily held the forum at the Plaza Hotel in downtown Seoul from 7 to 9 a.m., Friday, attracting more than 140 CEOs and executives from multinational companies operating in the country. In addition, dozens of ambassadors to Seoul attended.

The Korea Times organized the forum to offer a venue for communication between foreign investors and the government, where they could exchange ideas and get feedback for their mutual benefit.

Minister Yoon said it is important for the Korean and Chinese governments to cooperate closely when China’s state-run enterprises make investments in Korea.

“Government cooperation is crucial,” he said. “But nothing has been decided yet because China’s investment in Korea is still in its early stage.”

He said things went bad when Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. (SAIC) failed to turn Ssangyong Motor around in 2009, adding this made Korea more cautious toward bringing in capital from China, even though it needs to do so.

In 2004, China’s state-run automaker acquired Ssangyong, but five years later, it let the Korean automaker go bankrupt. Among others, SAIC was criticized for allegedly stealing Ssangyong’s advanced auto technologies.

“I believe it makes sense for Chinese companies or investors to put money into Korea’s free economic zones,” Yoon said. “Among others, they should consider Incheon or Saemangeum zones as their investment destinations. The government will do everything it can to draw investments from China’s private sector.”

When asked when Korea would join the U.S.-initiated Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Yoon said the government is closely monitoring the ongoing negotiations.

“I think the 12 economies will reach an agreement in the near future, so the time will come soon when Korea declares to join the TPP negotiations,” Yoon said. “We are currently studying various ways to maximize our interests when we decide to be part of the TPP.”

The 12 nations include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam.

Touching on the possible three-way free trade agreement (FTA) between Korea, China and Japan, the minister said it has been difficult to create a joint trade platform for all three nations.

“The three-way trade liberalization talks have been largely stalled,” Yoon said. “Korea, China and Japan are at different stages of development. This makes it really hard to reach a consensus that satisfies all three parties.”

“We will see how the ongoing working-level talks proceed from here. If the negotiations don’t move forward, I think senior officials should get together and try harder to come to an agreement. Korea wants to see it done as soon as possible,” he said.