CEOs Vow Closer Seoul-Tokyo Business Ties
By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
The business leaders of South Korea and Japan agreed Friday to make concerted efforts to minimize fallout from the global financial turmoil on regional economies and help their governments overcome the crisis as quickly as possible.
They also agreed to strengthen cooperation for the development of energy and environmental technologies in preparation for the era of ``low carbon and green growth.''
The Japanese delegation, led by Fujio Mitarai, chairman of the Japan Business Federation, arrived in Seoul Thursday to participate in the Second Business Summit Roundtable, a forum for Korean and Japanese business leaders.
The two countries launched the forum in April when President Lee Myung-bak visited Tokyo for a summit with then-Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda as part of efforts to strengthen economic cooperation.
Lee invited the Japanese business leaders to Cheong Wa Dae to seek ways to enhance business cooperation.
``The U.S. credit crisis and its negative spillover effects on the global economy have raised the need for closer coordination between South Korea and Japan,'' Federation of Korean Industries Chairman Cho Suck-rai said at the forum, held at the Shilla Hotel, Seoul. ``The closer Seoul-Tokyo ties will be crucial for the stability of Northeast Asian economies.''
Mitarai also stressed the need to strengthen exchanges between the business communities of the two neighbors to tide over the troubles on the financial markets.
``The business leaders of South Korea and Japan gathered for the second time this year to increase cooperation. It is important to let the world know that at a time when the financial crisis is deepening,'' Mitarai said.
Participants included Korea International Trade Association Chairman Lee Hee-beom; Korea Employers Federation Chairman Lee Soo-young; Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business Chairman Kim Ki-mun; Kumho Asiana Group Chairman Park Sam-koo; and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Yoon-woo.
From Japan, Mitarai; Toyota Motor Corp. Chairman Fujio Cho; Nippon Steel Corp. Chairman Akio Mimura; Toray Industries President Sadayuki Sakakibara and eight other business leaders attended the forum.
The business summit came after President Lee said he would propose a summit with the leaders of China and Japan at the Asia-Europe Meeting in Beijing this month to discuss concerted regional countermeasures to the global financial crisis.
Lee made a separate proposal early this month that the finance ministers of Korea, China and Japan meet to discuss closer financial policy coordination.