Others

Employees of S-Oil, together with a select group of the ...

Seoul Business Summit starts to take shape

By Kim Tong-hyung The business community here is attempting to assure the Seoul global chief executives’ meeting truly becomes an extraordinary event, with or without Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. Organizers of the G20 Seoul Business Summit have yet to receive confirmation from the two American technology gurus, or from iconic investor Warren Buffett, but they can still manage to claim that some of the planet’s most influential corporate minds will be roaming the halls of the Sheraton Walkerhill come November. About 100 business leaders from around the world are expected to assemble in Seoul to discuss the priorities of the international business community and advise world leaders and finance ministers gathered for the G20 summit. And the names booked on the flights to Seoul so far read like a who’s who list of the most powerful individuals in the global finance, industrial and technology sectors. Representing the financial services industry in Seoul will be Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann, HSBC British Holdings Group Chairman Stephen Green, Standard Chartered CEO P

G20 agenda analysis 2: IMF reform

Europe’s old powers fighting against Asia’s young rich This is the second of a four-part series on the G20 Seoul Summit agenda. ― ED. 1. Framework for strong, sustainable, balanced growth (Aug. 13) 2. Reform of the IMF (Aug. 23) 3. Basel III ­ new banking regulations (Sep. 2) 4. Development of poor countries (Sept. 12) By Cho Jin-seo Seoul Summit’s hottest topic is going to be the reform of international financial institutions, which is referred to as ‘IFI reform’ by acronym-loving government officials. At the core of the debate lies the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Debates have been going on via international video-conferences and behind-the-scene negotiations, about how to shift the voting shares in the IMF from over-represented nations to under-represented nations. The former group is mostly economically advanced nations in the West, while the latter is emerging powers in Asia and the rest of the world. “The IMF works like a farmers’ cooperation. You pay for more shares, and you can claim more benefits when you need them,” a high-level official at Ko

Biz summit to become integral part of G20 process

By Cathy Rose A. Garcia The upcoming G20 Summit is a significant opportunity for Korea to play a major role in determining the direction of the global economy. ``The G20 Summit is very significant because we (Korea) are now part of the major global economic governance group which will provide direction and vision for the global economy,’’ Song Kyung-jin, special adviser to the Presidential Committee for the G20 Summit Chairman Sakong Il, told The Korea Times, at a coffee shop near her office in Samcheong-dong, last week. Song, who has been described by Sakong as the person who is most knowledgeable about details regarding the summit, said the G20 has an important role in leading the world economy at this critical juncture. While there are skeptics who question the effectiveness of the G20 process, Song said there is no doubt that world leaders’ efforts at the summits in Washington, London, Pittsburgh and Toronto in the last two years have contributed to the stabilization of the global economy. ``Leading experts and economists are saying they don’t think there wou

Seoul to bring G20 leaders’ attention to green growth

By Kim Jae-kyoung The global economic crisis triggered by the U.S. subprime mortgage meltdown has steered the global economy in a new direction, forcing many countries around the world to follow a new expansion paradigm, ``green growth.'' For sustainable and balanced development, governments in major countries have come up with green initiatives to get the upper hand in the new area, which they believe will determine the future of their economies. However, there has been slow progress in reaching a global consensus on the issue due to different perspectives between developed and emerging countries. Against this backdrop, Korea is seeking to take an initiative in coming up with workable solutions at the G20 Seoul Summit by tabling the agenda to the business summit table. In an interview with The Korea Times, Young Soo-gil, chairman of the Presidential Committee on Green Growth, said, “The agenda for the summit will be crowded with other issues of pressing priorities to allow much discussion on green growth. The Korean G20 Summit Preparatory Committee is aiming for mainstre

Korea’s experience to help bridge G20 development gap

This interview is part of articles highlighting Korea’s preparations for the Nov. 11-12 G20 Summit slated for Seoul, marking 80 days before the summit. — ED. By Kim Jae-kyoung Despite the Korean government’s efforts to generate meaningful agreements at the G20 Seoul Summit slated for Nov. 11 and 12, many are raising doubts about the outcome of the gathering as they believe that it is impossible to find middle ground on some thorny issues, such as IMF reform, climate change and development issues. Ranking officials at the Presidential Committee for the G20 Summit agreed that there were difficulties in bridging the gap between advanced and developing countries. They said that developed countries agreed on the need for change but they become very stubborn when going into the details. A noted economic and finance expert stressed that Korea should capitalize on its own development experience in order to bridge the perspectives between the two groups of countries and make the first G20 meeting in a non-G7 nation successful. “The ultimate challenge for the G20 Summi

Franklin Templeton Investments CEO Jeon Yong-bae.....,

KOTRA President Cho Hwan-eik, center, poses with Altisolar.....

15 leaders to participating in G20 biz summit

By Oh Young-jin Leaders of Korea’s top 15 conglomerates and financial institutions will attend the G20 Seoul Business Summit, a precursor to the summit of the top 20 global leaders, in Seoul in November. The participating business leaders include Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee; Hyundai Automotive Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo; SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won; LG Group Chairman Koo Bon-moo; Lotte Group Vice Chairman Shin Dong-bin; POSCO CEO Chung Joon-yang; GS Caltex Chairman Hur Dong-soo; Hyundai Heavy Industries Chairman Min Keh-sik; Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho; KT CEO Lee Suk-chae; Doosan Chairman Park Yong-hyun; Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn; KB Financial Chairman Euh Yoon-dae; Kyobo Life Insurance Chairman Shin Chang-jae and Daewoo Securities Chairman Lim Ki-young. Organizers have announced that about 100 foreign business leaders are also scheduled to participate in the two-day event so the composition of a Korean delegation was made to best reflect Korea Inc. Thus, the reigning 12 are CEOs or chairmen of Korea’s top business groups and 3 repre

Power game sprouts in Seoul over G20 summit

Finance ministry officials piqued by Sakong Il’s command By Cho Jin-seo Power games between economy-related agencies are becoming more apparent, casting doubts on whether Korea can handle the heavy financial reform agenda at the G20 Seoul Summit. Academics blame an escalating turf war between the central bank and financial regulators for making it more difficult to implement efficient macro-prudential policies. And a rift is developing between the finance ministry and the G20 preparation committee on which of them would deserve more of the credit once the summit successfully ends in November. Sakong Il, the chairman of the G20 committee, and Yoon Jeung-hyun, the finance minister, have not been so amiable in recent weeks, people who know them well have commented. Sakong is leading Seoul’s efforts to host a milestone summit this November, yet the people at the finance ministry are not very pleased by the way he handles the publicity. “Though Sakong is the person in charge of preparations for the summit, all the hard work is being done by the people at the finance mi