‘Business Summit will facilitate public-private partnerships’

The following is a message from Lee Myung-bak, the President of the Republic of Korea, on the occasion of Korea’s opening of the G20 Business Summit in Seoul. -- Ed




When the global economic and financial crisis struck, many feared that the crisis was going to be similar or even worse than the Great Depression of the 1930s. Amid such panic and uncertainty, the G20 played a crucial role in averting the worst. The G20 brought about an unprecedented level of policy coordination and adopted various measures that yielded substantial results. As a result, the G20 is now considered the premier forum for global economic affairs.

G20 leaders urged to curb nationalism

Asia Society’s task force, headed by a former Citi vice chairman, Tuesday released a report calling for policies to balance Asia’s economic globalization with the rest of the world.

“This report, which combines the thinking of experts from across the Asia-Pacific region, provides a common sense strategy for achieving this goal,” said task force chair Bill Rhodes during its meeting in Seoul ahead of the G20 summit.

“We are releasing this report immediately prior to the G20 summit to make specific recommendations for how the G20 and its member states can play a greater role in fostering economic growth and countering the rising tide of economic nationalism,” said task force coordinator Jamie Metzl.

Gold hits record high at $1,400

Investors looking for safer places to stow their assets pushed gold to a record price above $1,400 an ounce Monday as they become more worried about the global economy.

A combination of issues have created fresh worry among investors: Ireland’s debt difficulties and two key global summits where leaders of major industrial and developing nations are discussing currencies, free trade and ways to help the world economy.

Also in the back of investors’ minds is the prospect of inflation stemming the Federal Reserve’s multi-billion bond-buying program.

“People are really concerned again and so I think we’re seeing safe-haven buying,” IG Markets Inc. CEO Dan Cook said.

“Whether you’re holding dollars or euros or whatever you’re holding, gold is that one kind of go-to product, a commodity as well as a currency type of trade,” he said. “Nobody seems to be that willing to sell out of it.”

Gold for December delivery added $5.50 to settle at a record high of $1,403.20 an ounce. Some analysts believe gold could climb as high as $1,500 an ounce by year end.

G20 summit to spotlight tech-savvy Korea

Political and business leaders from the Group of 20 will get a glimpse into tech-savvy Korea as the government and industry showcase new technologies and mobilize gadgets to serve the guests. 

Devices ranging from digital pens, mobile IPTVs (Internet protocol TV), tablet PCs, digital touch pads and 3-D TVs to electric cars will be offered by different companies at the meetings of the G20 national leaders and top CEOs hosted in the nation’s capital.

Koreans understand global challenges

The following was contributed by U.S. Amb. to Korea Kathleen Stephens. Ed.

All of us who live in Korea have seen increasing signs in Seoul and throughout the country that the long-anticipated G20 Seoul Summit is about to happen. Riding the KTX train, I’ve seen G20 signs carved in the fields. 

Here in Seoul, I was visited last week by a “Talk to the G20 Leaders” promotional bus tour. As a means to promote the G20 Seoul Summit to the Korean public, the Presidential Committee for the G20 Summit launched a campaign for Korean citizens to send questions and messages to the G20 leaders. Korean citizens made submissions in three ways: through fixed campaign booths at COEX, a promotional bus that toured around the nation, and a dedicated G20 Web site. More than 18,000 messages were received through these outlets! After President Lee, Koreans posed the most questions to President Obama, with a total of over 4,000 questions and messages sent to the American President. 

On Nov. 2, the G20 bus stopped by the U.S. Embassy in Gwanghwamun to deliver the questions and messages to President Obama. It was a nice opportunity to step outside on a beautiful day and receive the questions from a family with two bright girls. The bus looked great, it was a wonderful idea and I look forward to delivering the messages and questions to President Obama.

Many of the questions reflected a nuanced understanding that if the world is going to be able to grow at a strong, sustainable pace, we need to achieve more balance in the pattern of global growth. That is why what the G20 achieved at the Gyeongju Ministerial was so important. A consensus is emerging that, in the current economic environment, all countries must play their part in contributing to stronger and more sustainable growth. 

Many messages expressed deep passion for the environment. These were reassuring. The United States and Korea are coordinating closely in international climate change discussions and are together exploring ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, our two countries are carrying out several collaborative projects in researching, developing and deploying new clean energy innovations, including wind, solar and SmartGrid technologies.

CEOs call for more youth training

Governments and the corporate sector will be pushed to better empower youths in order to tackle the widespread problem of youth unemployment, according to the head of Infosys Technologies. 

Most newly created jobs focus on areas that are vastly different from the past, making it difficult for youths to find their niche, said Kris Gopalakrishnan, Managing Director and CEO of Infosys Technologies. 

Citing a working group discussion with CEOs who gathered under the scheme of reducing youth unemployment at the G20 Business Summit, Gopalakrishnan noted that jobs of the 21st century are very different from before. 

“They have significant knowledge content,” he said, urging governments and enterprises to better train youths to match the demands being made in the newly created jobs. 

“Bigger anticipation of the type of work, as well as matching the needs and skills can help workers reap the benefits from both crises and restructuring new opportunities,” the CEO said. 

A growing number of youths have been out of jobs from the outset of the 2008 global financial crisis. 

Gopalakrishnan estimated that over 80 million youths were out of work, citing figures from the International Labor Organization. 

The South Korean labor market has been no exception, with an increasing number of younger people struggling to find work. 

A public and private sector partnership, therefore, for training youths to make them more desirable in the job market was crucial, Gopalakrishnan said. 

Companies should be given more incentives such as tax breaks in order to more actively tackle this task, he added. 

Another recommendation from the CEOs was to foster entrepreneurship.

“Entrepreneurships at small and medium-sized companies are the drivers for any economy in terms of job creation,” Gopalakrishnan said.

Some 120 CEOs gathered in Seoul for the Group of 20 Business Summit that kicks off Wednesday for a two-day run.

A final report on their findings and recommendations will be issued on Thursday. The results also will be shared with the Group of 20 national leaders who are here for the G20 Seoul Summit.

Infosys is a global leader in business process outsourcing and is often called the “Microsoft of India” because of its rise from a small venture to a top-tier firm. 

Korea, U.S. struggling over auto issues

Korea and the U.S. were struggling to narrow their differences Tuesday over a bilateral free trade agreement as trade officials raced to strike a deal before the G20 Seoul Summit begins on Thursday.

Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon and the U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk held last-minute negotiations in Seoul for a second day. 

The talks, originally scheduled to be concluded Tuesday, were extended for another day after they failed to resolve pending issues including U.S. demands to ease Korean regulations on automobiles, officials said.

“The two sides are negotiating earnestly but overall the situation is that differences are not being narrowed,” Deputy Trade Minister Choi Seok-young said after the meeting. 

He added that the two sides are discussing various ways to afford U.S. carmakers separate measures regarding Korea’s automobile fuel economy and emissions standards. He added that other countries including the U.S. and Japan have separate regulations for small scale manufacturers.

“Separate measures are not complete exemptions from our standards. We are discussing ways to ease regulations in part.”

Since the talks began, Korea has conceded to U.S. demands on a number of automobile-related regulations.

Automobile-related issues on the table are thought to include putting a cap on customs refunds on automobile parts that are imported and used in exported vehicles at 5 percent, and exempt carmakers with an annual sales figure of up to 10,000 vehicles from the new fuel economy standards that will go into effect in 2015. 

From 2015, vehicles able to seat 10 or fewer people will be required to have fuel efficiency of at least 17 kilometers per liter or emissions standards of no more than 140 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer.

In addition, the two sides are likely to agree to phase out the 25 percent tariff on Korean-made pickup trucks over 15 years instead of the previously agreed 10 year phase-out period or to include a snap-back clause on such vehicles. A snap-back clause allows tariffs to be reinstated if regulations are broken or if the pact leads to significant damage to the auto industry. 

For its part, the U.S. is reported to have retracted demands concerning Korea’s beef import barriers.

The U.S. has been calling for Korea to remove its 30-month cap on the age of cattle from which beef products imported to Korea are produced, but Seoul has been maintaining the position that the issue is unrelated to the bilateral trade pact.