Industry minister vows to cut red tape in foreign investment

South Korea's industry minister pledged Thursday to remove administrative red tape that is holding up foreign investment.
  

In a meeting with members of the American Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul, Yoon Sang-jick said he will work closely with other government ministries to find reasonable ways to deal with regulatory obstacles that are hindering inflows of investments.
  

"Efforts will be made to work closely with foreign companies operating in South Korea to find ways to make the local business environment more attractive to companies," the industry minister said.
  

Yoon and leading members of AMCHAM also touched on providing more incentives for foreign direct investment and the need to push forward labor, the public sector and financial reforms, as well as revamp the country's educational system.
  

Participants to the talks then exchanged views on various details related to the implementation of the South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement that has been in effect since March 2012, and the recently agreed-upon Trans-Pacific Partnership. South Korea is currently not a member of the mega trading bloc although many senior officials have made clear it wants to join in the future.
  

The policymaker, meanwhile, took note of suggestions made by foreign businessmen to make Asia's fourth-largest economy more enticing to companies.
  

According to the ministry, foreign direct investment in South Korea totaled $10.82 billion in the first nine months of the year, up 9 percent from the same period a year earlier. (Yonhap)