Emergency Ministerial Meeting on Economic Affairs
Government Works to Make Economic Policy Directions and Growth Strategies
and Develop the Procurement Market and Food tech Industry
Deputy Prime Minister Kyungho CHOO presided over the Emergency Ministerial Meeting on Economic Affairs[1] on December 14 to discuss four major agendas of the 2023 Economic Policy Directions, plans for the New Growth Strategy 4.0, measures to innovate public procurement, and measures to develop the food tech industry.
The following is a summary of DPM CHOO’s opening remarks.
The 2023 Economic Policy Directions
The Korean Economy is facing highly challenging conditions at home and abroad, and situations are likely to deteriorate in the first half of the next year. Korea’s real economy, especially exports, has recently started to slow down due to a decline in global economic growth and the semiconductor market’s slowdown. Although upward pressure on prices has been reduced after reaching its peak, it is expected to remain high for the time being, and an increase in employment is also forecast to sharply decelerate due to the base effect.
Being mindful of the challenging economic situations, the government will devise the 2023 Economic Policies in four directions with an aim to ensure that Korea could overcome crises and leap forward again.
1) Manage the macro-economy in a stable manner by preemptively and proactively responding to changes in economic conditions and risks
2) Support the fast recovery of people’s livelihoods by reducing prices and living costs, creating jobs and strengthening and expanding social safety nets
3) Boost the economy that puts private sectors at its core by addressing imminent challenges regarding export and investment through drastic incentives and regulatory reforms and by actively identifying sectors with new growth potentials
4) Accelerate structural reforms in five sectors of public organizations, labor, education, finance, and services and reinforce preparations for the future by bracing for population and climate crisis and supply chain realignment
The New Growth Strategy 4.0
The government will prepare and implement systematic and comprehensive growth strategies to help Korea leap forward again.
To that end, the government will establish the New Growth Strategy 4.0 that aims to promote future-oriented industries by upgrading the past growth strategies that focused on the agriculture (Growth Strategy 1.0), manufacturing (Growth Strategy 2.0) and IT (Growth Strategy 3.0) industries. The followings are measures the government will take to achieve its goal.
- Identify and implement key projects in promising future-oriented areas including future cutting-edge technologies, digital transformation, and super-gap technologies of national strategic industries
- Improve support systems regarding R&D, finance, global cooperation, human resource development and regulatory reform in a bid to help effectively carry out the key projects
The government will have in-depth discussions on the 2023 Economic Policy Directions and plans for the New Growth Strategy 4.0 at today’s meeting and announce them no sooner than later.
Measures to innovate public procurement
The government will reform the systems and practices of the public procurement market to put an end to the absurdity and unfairness in the market by doing the following measures as the market significantly grew to about 184 trillion won in 2021, which is 9 percent compared to GDP.
- Overhaul the procurement systems that have created many complaints from the public such as Multiple Award Schedule (MAS), excellent products procurement, and special procurement cases
- End unnecessary procurement practices of public organizations to meet the public demand
- Reinforce support for the innovative products of SMEs and startups by utilizing the effective public procurement methods
Measures to develop the food tech industry
The food tech industry is one of the emerging industries that incorporates cutting-edge technologies with the whole processes of the food industry ranging from food production, distribution to consumption and it is expected to drive the growth of Korea’s agricultural and food industries.
Acknowledging its importance, the government has set its export target for the food tech industry to reach 2 billion dollars[2] by 2027 through the following measures.
- Enhance funding support for innovative businesses such as the creation of a 100 billion won fund that is designated for a purpose of investing in the food tech industry
- Select 10 key specific areas of the food tech industry to expand support for their R&D, and foster around 3,000 talents in the industry
[1] The meeting was joined by ministers, vice ministers and high-level officials from related ministries and public organizations including Ministry of Education, Ministry of Science and ICT, Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Employment and Labor, Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Office for Government Policy Coordination, Fair Trade Commission, Financial Services Commission, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Public Procurement Service, and Defense Acquisition Program Administration.
[2] Korea’s food tech industry posted 500 million dollars in export in 2022.
Please refer to the attached pdf.
