5th Vice Ministerial Meeting on ‘Growth through Innovation’
5th Meeting Discusses Platform Economy and Small Merchant Support
Vice Minister of Economy and Finance Ko Hyoung-kwon presided over the 5th Vice Ministerial Meeting on ‘Growth through Innovation’ held on August 10, and discussed how to develop the country’s platform economy and government plans to support small merchants. The Vice Minister talked about the role of local governments in the economy’s pursuing ‘growth through innovation’.
The following is a summary of Vice Minister Ko’s keynote address.
‘Growth through innovation’ will likely begin gaining momentum as President Moon urged fast regulatory reform to promote remote healthcare and direct banks, and Deputy Prime Minister Kim held talks with the heads of local governments to encourage them to work on local ‘growth through innovation’. Local governments should lead local economies’ ‘growth through innovation’ as they know the market and the industry. The ministry’s ‘growth through innovation’ taskforce will work closely with local governments as well as other ministries involved to provide the right support.
How to develop a platform economy
We have been discussing what should be the country’s future growth engines with industries, experts from the private sector and other ministries, focusing on what platform economy we should develop. We have recent examples of using AI and big data analytics in many industries. Plans to develop Korea’s platform economy are going to be announced at the next Ministerial Meeting on ‘Growth through Innovation’.
The government has also worked on measures to expand the public sector market for new inventions, which will be announced in September and will focus on priming the innovation pump.
Plans to support small merchants
Small merchants have recently suffered from high minimum wages and slowing domestic demand. The government have listened to struggling small merchants and found that they are burdened with rising rents and minimum wages, as well as taxes, increasing costs for employee insurance and credit card processing fees. The government will work to ease these difficulties with both short-term and mid- to long-term perspectives.
- Short-term measures: Provide minimum wage support, give tax breaks and reduce credit card processing fees
- Mid- to long-term measures: Increase business tenant protection, help improve competitiveness and strengthen social safety nets
Please refer to the attached pdf
