Economy Likely to Pick Up
Steam in 2nd Half
- Deputy Premier Han forecast that potential economic growth would stand
at 5 % level for 5 yrs

Deputy Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said the Korean economy would be predicted to pick up more growth momentum in the second half than the first half of the year, even though an economic recovery has yet to be reflected fully in economic indices.
Han, also minister of the Ministry of Finance and Economy, said during a meeting with businessmen, organized by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on April 28 at the Lotte Hotel in downtown Seoul that the forecasts by many analysts indicate that the U.S. economy would grow more than 3 percent, so it would not have an adverse impact on the Korean economy.
MOFE Minister Han also predicted that crude oil prices that have surged recently would be maintained at higher levels in that the crude oil demand, riding on rapid economic growth of countries like China, India and Brazil, is projected to surge for a considerable period of time.
Deputy Prime Minister Han said he would discuss crude oil price hikes during meeting with his Japanese and Chinese counterparts on the sidelines of the 38th ADB Annual Meeting slated for May 4-6 in Istanbul, Turkey. He said he would make diplomatic efforts by asking OECD countries to issue oil exporting countries a warning against the side effects oil exporting countries' oil price hikes have on the global economy.
The MOFE minister said Korea's potential economic growth is projected to stand at 5 percent for the next five years and between 4 percent and 5 percent thereafter, given the acceleration of an aging and a decline in accumulated capital. He said the Korean government will make strenuous efforts to evolve the domestic economy to the potential economic growth rate level, saying that it has failed to do so since the Asian financial crisis in 1997.
Han noted that removing trade and investment barriers among countries is a globalization trend, so Korea needs to overhaul regimes so as to benefit from affirmative effects free flow of capital and manpower would bring about. The fundamentals for making globalization a success are flexibility, elastic economic policies, creativity based on democracy and a market economy system, said the deputy premier, adding that Korea needs to make a win-win strategy with other countries, while trying to ensure co-prosperity and social integration.
Meanwhile, the government announced a package of steps to improve the nation's logistics infrastructure with the goal of developing Korea into a transportation hub of Northeast Asia. MOFE Minister Han presided over an economic policy coordination meeting held at the Gwacheon Government Complex.
Han said the government is now negotiating with many universities specializing in logistics in the United States and Netherlands on plans to open their East Asian campuses in Korea's Free Economic Zones (FEZs). The government-designated FEZs are located in Incheon, Busan-Jinhae and Gwangyang)
The government plans to attract leading foreign universities specialized in logistics to the nation's free economic zones (FEZs).
It also plans to back the logistics-related educational and training programs at domestic universities to nurture a highly skilled manpower, and accelerate the construction of FEZ infrastructure, including ports.
Domestic educational institutions offering various logistics-related programs will be given financial support from the government beginning in the second half of the year, he said. The government also decided to allow logistics companies to make a foray into the customs business sector to strengthen the competitiveness of the overall logistics industry.
It will accelerate an overhaul of the logistics infrastructure in the Busan-Jinhae and Gwangyang FEZs to compete with port cities in China and other Asian countries over hegemony as a maritime transportation hub in the region, he said.
The education subcommittee of the National Assembly on April 28 passed a bill allowing foreigners to establish schools inside the FEZs. The bill would improve the residential environment for foreign investors and their families living in the zones in a bid to remove inconveniences such as a shortage of qualified educational facilities for their children. The bill stipulates that non-profit foreign educational institutions can set up primary and secondary schools in the FEZs, while universities and higher learning facilities in the Jeju Free International City, with prior approval from the Ministry of Education and Human Resources. nw