Biz lobbies ask President-elect Yoon to create biz-friendly environment

South Korea's business lobby groups on Thursday called on President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol to create an environment for companies to make further investments and create more jobs.

Opposition candidate Yoon, 61, was elected South Korea's next president Thursday after an unbelievably close race that underlined deep divisions along regional, generational and gender lines, and hands him a daunting task to narrow those chasms.

The country's business lobbies, such as the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), and the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) made the call as they see the new government's leadership is the key to responding to sluggish local consumption, low birthrates and aging population.

"Yoon's election represents the nation's wishes (for the incoming administration) to ride out the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and bring back justice and common sense to the society," the FKI said in a statement.

The FKI also asked Yoon to make the labor market more flexible and ease regulations to help the private sector lead the country's economic growth.

During his campaign, Yoon criticized liberal President Moon Jae-in for pursuing state-led economic growth, saying the economic paradigm should be completely changed, led by the private sector and innovation, not by the government and its debt-incurring spending.

The lobby groups also cited Russia's invasion into Ukraine, the trade dispute between China and the United States, and the rapid change in technological development, known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, as growing uncertainties for businesses.

KITA asked the Yoon government to take preemptive measures to respond to the carbon neutral era and protect local exporters amid growing protectionism in major trading partners, such as the US and China, which are in hegemonic competition.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM) said it firmly believes that the next five years hold tremendous opportunities, especially in strategic industries such as biopharma, semiconductors, and digital technology, while the US and Korea continue to face challenges that include the pandemic.

"AMCHAM looks forward to playing a key role in building bridges between the governments and business communities of both countries to realize these opportunities," the US business lobby said in a statement.

Yoon is expected to seek expansionary fiscal spending to support businesses hit hard by the pandemic and underpin the economic recovery.

Yoon promised to spend around 50 trillion won ($40.6 billion) to compensate small merchants for their losses caused by antivirus restrictions.

The new government, set to take office on May 10, is also likely to create another supplementary budget to fund Yoon's compensation program.

Yoon said he will cut unnecessary expenditures and use tax revenue to finance his spending plan. But given the hefty amount of support, it would be inevitable for the new government to resort to debt sales. (Yonhap)