Doing More for the Country

FKI Chmn. Huh chairs first meeting to decide what more to do to help SMEs and improve the image of big business

Chairman Huh Chang-soo presided over his first general meeting of the Federation of Korean Industries as its chairman on March 10 at the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Seoul.
Chairman Huh, following the meeting, announced that the FKI will do its utmost to achieve its vision to boost Korea’s per capita income to $100,000 in 2030 to rank Korea among the top 10 countries in the world in terms of economic scale.
Huh, who also is chairman of GS Group, which is ranked seventh largest in Korea, said the FKI will make efforts to boost the national income based on a healthy capitalism and creative market economy ideals to set up a vision for Korea’s economic growth in this century. He said he will from time to time propose ideas for the FKI to play a key role in boosting economic growth in order for Korea to rank 10th in the world. He will be at the forefront of the efforts to globalize the Korean economy and strengthen civilian diplomacy and cooperation with strategically important countries.
The new FKI chairman said he should lead the FKI to be in the forefront of the national effort to further develop Korea and make a detailed action plan by listening to what the people want from the FKI.
“Our economy has to grow more than 5 percent per annum in order to boost the per capita income to $100,000 in 2030,” he said.
Huh said he will also meet with Chairman Chung Un-chan of the Committee for Co-Prosperity, if needed, on matters regarding bad publicity large firms have gotten in the evaluation of their cooperation with SMEs for co-prosperity, although he would have to study the matter fully before the meeting. He said he would like to explain to Chung what the large firms want and will do for the nation.
As to the negative public perception of big business, Huh said that during the rapid development of the Korean economy, not everything went smoothly, but no more so than in other countries that went through the same experience of economic growth.
“They just got bad press,” Huh said, in explaining the poor image the public has of big conglomerates in the country. He said the image of businesspeople would improve a lot from now on. The Chairman’s Group of the FKI, the key decision-making unit for the FKI made up of 30 heads of large firms in Korea, members of which include Chairman Lee Kun-hee of Samsung Group, Chairman Chung Mong-koo of Hyundai Automotive Group and Chairman Chung Joon-yang of POSCO, said they would have to communicate more with the public to improve the image of big business. They would have to think about the country and the people first before their businesses and get close to SMEs, labor, youth and various other levels of society to change their image. They have also decided to support the government in tackling various problems and assist it on its policies including co-prosperity with SMEs, inflation and other economic issues.
Chairman Huh said controlling inflation and the prices of oil and other raw materials will be serious problems in light of the Middle East situation. The Chairman’s Group also felt that rapid parliamentary approval of the free trade agreements with the United States and the EU is also called for to help Korean firms in the arena of international business. They said international trade competition is no longer between businesses but among nations, and business groups are calling for large businesses and SMEs to cooperate for mutual growth and mutual survival in the international market. Permanent Vice Chairman Chung Byung-chol said large firms have been providing help to SMEs in such areas as funding, production technology, overseas marketing, R&D and mutual advancement overseas.
The FKI has also decided to support PyeongChang’s bid to win the hosting rights for the 2018 Winter Olympics by taking advantage of its member firms’ global business networks and civilian diplomacy.
In the meantime, former Chairman Cho S.R. was made an honorary chairman. In his retirement speech, he said the business community has done a lot in the rapid development of Korea, but the public doesn’t have a fair view on this. In order to change the misunderstanding, he said, businesses should invest more and create jobs so that the people can enjoy affluent lives. nw

Chairman Huh Chang-soo and members of the Chairman’s Group of the Federation of Korean Industries pose for a photo following their first meeting presided over by the new chairman on March 10 at Hyatt Hotel in Seoul. Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik who called on Chairman Huh is also in the photo, 5th R, along with Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, 4th R, and Hyundai Automotive Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, Doosan Group Chairman Park Yong-hyun, POSCO Chairman Chung Joon-yang, Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn, STX Group Chairman Kang Duk-soo, Kumho-Asiana Group Chairman Park Sam-koo and Samyang Chairman Kim Yoon, among others.