By Kang Seung-woo
President Park Geun-hye called for establishing regional support programs for promising small and medium enterprises (SMEs) during an APEC meeting, Thursday, in an effort to help them gain access to global markets.
Park and 20 other leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping, attended the first session of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Manila, the Philippines.
The leaders discussed ways to explore new growth engines and achieve inclusive growth amid an ongoing global economic slowdown.
"In order to enhance inclusive growth, President Park suggested that APEC members try to globalize their SMEs," said a Cheong Wa Dae official.
Park's proposal means small and medium companies, which account for 97 percent of all enterprises and employ over half of the workforce across APEC economies, need to grow and develop into export-ready firms rather than just rely on domestic demand, according to Park's office.
In addition, she said that in line with the proposal, small- and mid-sized firms need to participate in global value chains, in which the various stages of the production process are undertaken at locations in different countries.
Park's office added that along with the SME proposal, she called on the countries to nurture the services industry with the potential of creating a high level of employment and added value.
The government is making efforts to increase the competitiveness of seven promising services industries with high growth potential in order to nurture a sector with the potential for high employment and added value. The seven are healthcare and medicine, education, tourism, cultural content, finance, logistics and software.
During the meeting, Park also introduced the Korean government's three-year plan for economic innovation, aimed at achieving an employment rate of 70 percent and a potential growth rate of four percent by 2017, and structural reform in four areas of finance, labor, education and the public sector.
After a luncheon with the leaders, Park also attended the final session of the two-day economic forum and she called for APEC to make joint efforts to support socially vulnerable groups such as women and children and solve the problem of poverty in rural areas.
Wrapping up the summit, the leaders adopted a joint statement that denounced, among other things, terrorism and vowed united efforts to combat its root causes in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks last week that killed at least 129 people.
"We strongly condemn all acts, methods and practices of terrorism in all their forms and manifestations. We will not allow terrorism to threaten the fundamental values that underpin our free and open economies," the declaration stated.
President Park Geun-hye called for establishing regional support programs for promising small and medium enterprises (SMEs) during an APEC meeting, Thursday, in an effort to help them gain access to global markets.
Park and 20 other leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping, attended the first session of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Manila, the Philippines.
The leaders discussed ways to explore new growth engines and achieve inclusive growth amid an ongoing global economic slowdown.
"In order to enhance inclusive growth, President Park suggested that APEC members try to globalize their SMEs," said a Cheong Wa Dae official.
Park's proposal means small and medium companies, which account for 97 percent of all enterprises and employ over half of the workforce across APEC economies, need to grow and develop into export-ready firms rather than just rely on domestic demand, according to Park's office.
In addition, she said that in line with the proposal, small- and mid-sized firms need to participate in global value chains, in which the various stages of the production process are undertaken at locations in different countries.
Park's office added that along with the SME proposal, she called on the countries to nurture the services industry with the potential of creating a high level of employment and added value.
The government is making efforts to increase the competitiveness of seven promising services industries with high growth potential in order to nurture a sector with the potential for high employment and added value. The seven are healthcare and medicine, education, tourism, cultural content, finance, logistics and software.
During the meeting, Park also introduced the Korean government's three-year plan for economic innovation, aimed at achieving an employment rate of 70 percent and a potential growth rate of four percent by 2017, and structural reform in four areas of finance, labor, education and the public sector.
After a luncheon with the leaders, Park also attended the final session of the two-day economic forum and she called for APEC to make joint efforts to support socially vulnerable groups such as women and children and solve the problem of poverty in rural areas.
Wrapping up the summit, the leaders adopted a joint statement that denounced, among other things, terrorism and vowed united efforts to combat its root causes in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks last week that killed at least 129 people.
"We strongly condemn all acts, methods and practices of terrorism in all their forms and manifestations. We will not allow terrorism to threaten the fundamental values that underpin our free and open economies," the declaration stated.
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