President Park Geun-hye called Tuesday for sweeping deregulation aimed at facilitating mergers and acquisitions of venture start-ups, saying investments, not loans, are key to revitalizing the industry that is considered a backbone for her "creative economy" vision.
Park has championed the vision as one of her main economic policies. It calls for boosting South Korea's economy by creating unheard-of business opportunities and more jobs through the fusion of information technology and cultural and other realms.
Venture firms are considered best suited for such experiments.
"If we say fusion is key regarding the creative economy, we have to remove obstacles to fusion, M&As and angel investment if we are to energize the creative economy," Park said during a Cabinet meeting, according to her spokeswoman Kim Haing.
Park stressed that venture firms should rely more on investments, not loans, if they are going to overcome failures and get on their feet again.
"What the government should do ... is help investors make investments with a sense of achievement and get rid of unnecessary regulations to make it happen," Park said.
Officials said last week that the government plans to provide 26 trillion won ($23.9 billion) worth of support for small start-up companies this year as part of efforts to create a business friendly environment for such venture business activities.
The support plan and other measures, including tax incentives, will be unveiled this week, which would represent the fourth large-scale policy package by President Park Geun-hye to boost the slowing economy since her inauguration in February. (Yonhap News)
