[TV Interview - DBiK Seminar 2024] Developing S. Korea as regional hub for multinational companies: …
Developing S. Korea
as regional hub for multinational companies: AMCHAM’s 'Doing Business in Korea'
By
Moon Hye-ryeon, Arirang News - Economic relations between South Korea and the
United States continue to grow, while various factors are affecting Korea as an
attractive business destination. These
were some of the topics that were brought up as CEOs and government officials
gathered today in Seoul to talk about American firms doing business in Korea. Our
Moon Hye-ryeon files this report. The
American Chamber of Commerce in Korea opened its annual "AMCHAM Doing
Business in Korea" seminar on Tuesday with company heads and government
officials to discuss policy directions to make the country more attractive for
American firms. The
U.S. Ambassador to South Korea spoke of how the U.S. has become South Korea's
largest investor, and how American firms are "betting on the Korean
market" due to its prominence on the global stage in terms of industry and
cultural content. "Korea
is leading the global moment as a global cultural and economic powerhouse. As a
result, Korea is at a moment of opportunity to position itself to attract more
international businesses." According
to a survey conducted by AMCHAM, South Korea was ranked as the second most
preferred destination for regional business headquarters in Asia after
Singapore for three years straight. "New
York Times is a good example. They moved its regional headquarters from Hong
Kong to Korea, and why did they move here? Great freedom of press, the digital
infrastructure is outstanding. And third, look at the people that you have here
in South Korea – hard-working, educated people who can execute." But
there's still a long way to go before the country can firmly establish itself
as a regional headquarters hub. "Singapore
has five thousand regional headquarters, Hong Kong has fourteen hundred.
Believe it or not, Korea has less than one hundred. Now is the perfect time for
Korea to really win some of those regional headquarters into Korea." In
order to achieve such a goal, there are four key policy areas that Seoul needs
to develop. "One
is labor flexibility. The other is predictability on tax, and a topic that
always comes up is CEO risk and liabilities, and the digital economy and
regulations." The
Yoon administration has already begun to address some of these concerns such as
tax predictability --extending flat income tax rates for foreign workers. But
with the digital economy increasingly accounting for larger portions of the
country's GDP and demand surging for more talent in new up-and-coming sectors
such as AI, the government aims to foster growth in research and development
between foreign and domestic groups. "This
year, we established an R&D business exclusively for foreign companies so
that global companies can promote technological innovation in Korea." With
the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy working with AMCHAM to further
advance the country as an attractive business destination and
spearhead the program to advance South Korea as a regional business hub, there
could be more developments in store. Source:
https://www.arirang.com/news/view?id=269747&lang=en
2024.04.29