21 ministries have 'foreign investment officers'

By Lee Hyo-sik

The government has appointed “foreign investment officers” to 21 ministries to further boost communication with foreign business communities and more effectively deal with difficulties facing non-Korean firms operating here.

The officers will serve as a bridge between their respective ministries and foreign companies, and help the latter cope with regulations, taxes and other policy issues concerning their business activities, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Wednesday.

The trade ministry and an ombudsman office at KOTRA have been an official channel between the government and foreign business communities. However, foreign companies often had a hard time in conveying their opinions to other government bodies, including the finance, labor and environment ministries.

The trade ministry said it held a meeting with the foreign investment advisory panel at the Seoul Grand Hyatt Hotel, Wednesday. BMW Korea CEO Kim Hyo-joon and 12 other heads of foreign firms attended the gathering, along with 10 representatives of foreign chambers of commerce in Korea.

The advisory panel, set up in 2004, consists of 30 CEOs of foreign companies and the chairmen of 12 foreign chambers of commerce.

Kwon Pyung-oh, director general of trade and investment at the trade ministry; Kim In-chul, foreign investment ombudsman at KOTRA; and the 21 foreign investment officers were also present at the meeting.

“We decided to have a foreign investment officer at each ministry to strengthen communication with foreign firms and better tend to their concerns,” Kwon said. “The government believes that the presence of foreign investment officers will encourage non-Koreans to expand investment and hire more workers.”

At the meeting, foreign companies made 17 policy proposals, saying the government should do more to make its policies more business-friendly.

They called for the law governing the registration and management of chemical substances to be relaxed because it has sharply raised costs of doing business in Korea. Foreign businesses also asked the government to clarify the definition of an ordinary wage, and make it easier to raise foreign currency funds, among others.

In response, policymakers said they will take eight proposals seriously, and consult with one another about five others. But they said there was no merit in dealing with the remaining four proposals.

They also said in July the government will open a portal containing information on regulations for foreign investors.

Meanwhile, Kwon and other officials explained in detail about what health authorities have done to prevent the spread of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome virus, and pledged to provide information to foreign business communities in a more prompt manner.