The government will tackle deregulation demands made by companies to help them hire more workers, make investments and carry out critical business reforms, top economic policymaker pledged Monday.
At a meeting with the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), finance minister Choi Kyung-hwan reasserted that 2015 represents the last chance for the country to make the next economic leap forward.
"This year marks the 'golden opportunity' to make a difference," he stressed.
The policymaker called on the business community to swiftly undertake planned investments and do more to reduce youth unemployment that reached 9 percent in December. This is much higher than the national jobless rate of 3.4 percent.
KCCI members urged the government to drastically axe unnecessary red tape, allow timely reorganization of business areas, help small and medium businesses in provinces and ease inheritance taxes that have hindered the buildup of small but globally competitive family-run businesses.
They also called for labor market reforms and attention to the rising unit labor cost.
Business leaders argued that South Korea ranks No. 4 in terms of corporate regulation intensity among the 33 members in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and 31st in economic liberalization.
They said while countries such as the United States and Japan saw a drop in unit labor costs in the past decade, numbers for South Korea has gone up 1.8 percent. Generally, higher numbers mean less labor market efficiency.
Companies said they too want to invest, yet they were held back by rules that prevent reorganization and taking over business operations of other companies.
Entrepreneurs also said real estate development restriction laws and reluctance to expand inheritance tax waivers must also be changed.
Companies called for more leeway in the new "corporate earnings circulation tax." The purpose of the tax is to get big companies to pay their workers more, make more investments or dole out greater dividends. (Yonhap)
