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| First Vice Finance Minister Bang Ki-sun, center, speaks during a roundtable with global investors in New York City, Monday. Courtesy of Ministry of Economy and Finance |
By Yi Whan-woo
First Vice Finance Minister Bang Ki-sun met with a group of global investors in New York City to correctly address Korea's economic situation and encourage investment toward the country, the ministry said Wednesday.
It said Bang's meeting at Lotte New York Palace hotel from Monday to Tuesday involved 21 executives from big-name companies.
Among them were BlackRock, Morgan Stanley, Citibank, Credit Agricole, JP Morgan, Barclays and UBS.
The vice minister gave a presentation, themed "Korea's steadfast economy," underscoring that Asia's fourth-largest economy will undergo hardship in the first half of the year but will bounce back in the latter half as the global economy recovers.
In particular, he clarified the trade deficit, fiscal soundness, short-term debt market and household debt ― all issues associated with Korea's economic uncertainties.
He also presented Korea's 2023 economic policy directions aimed at balancing between growth and inflation on the country's path to recovery.
Under the policy directions, the government will frontload 65 percent of the annual budget in the first half of the year, offer tax incentives on chips and other strategic export items, carry out three major reforms in labor, education and the retirement pension system, tightly manage supply chain risks and counter a rapid demographic change.
"The vice minister highlighted that Korea will be the first to rise when the dawn begins for the world economy, and accordingly asked the investors to keep trust in the country's market," the ministry said in a statement.
Also on Monday and Tuesday, Bang met top executives and economists from two global rating agencies ― Moody's and S&P.
The topics discussed included the impact of China's reopening, transition to the green economy, and reshoring of the Korean manufacturing businesses.
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