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세계경제금융 컨퍼런스 개막식 축사<영문>

  • 작성자 : 김진옥
  • 등록일 : 2009.05.22
  • 조회수 : 3118
Excellencies,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,

I am very pleased to speak to you on the occasion of the Global Financial Conference commemorating the 10th anniversary of the founding of Korea Business News. I would like to thank Mr. Shin Sang-min, CEO of the Korea Economic Daily Media Group, for his kind invitation to this conference.

I would also like to extend my warmest welcome to the distinguished participants, particularly those from abroad, who have come a long way to make valuable presentations at this Conference.

Founded in 1999, in the aftermaths of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the Korea Business News has played an instrumental role in providing the public with real-time news on the latest developments in the financial market and the economy. Today, in the short period of 10 years, Korea Business News has grown into one of the leading media agencies in Korea that specializes in economic and financial news.

I believe that tomorrow's Global Financial Conference reveals such specialty of Korea Business News most vividly, not only because of its renowned speakers and participants but also because of its relevancy of topics and its implications for the future of the Korean and world economy.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Today, the world continues to face a weakening global economy. The credit crisis, triggered by the sub-prime mortgage meltdown in the United States, has developed into one of the largest financial shocks in world history, unprecedented in scale and magnitude. Its devastating effects have been felt in economies throughout the world with profound repercussions in every corner of the globe.

In the past year and a half, the international community and governments of major economies have been tirelessly working towards containing the crisis and stabilizing the fluctuations in the global financial system.

Recognizing the importance of international cooperation in today's globalized world, governments of major economies came together at the G-20 Summit first in Washington D.C. last November and then again in London last month to discuss ways to strengthen the international financial system and reverse the course of global economic stagnation.

In addition to efforts to thaw the frozen credit market via various fiscal and monetary policies including economic stimulus packages at home, governments, based on the shared understanding that the mistakes of the 1930s should not in any case be repeated, agreed that protectionist measures is not a solution to the current problem and decided on a standstill in trade restrictions.

As a member of the G-20 troika and chair of the G-20 in 2010, Korea has been taking a leading role from the outset of the crisis to harness international efforts for financial cooperation and market stabilization.

The Korean Government has emphasized, on several occasions, the importance of policy coordination among economies of the world. As a matter of fact, one of the initial responses by President Lee Myung-bak in tackling the financial crisis was to engage in close consultations and cooperation with the international community including neighboring countries such as China and Japan. One such measure includes the currency swap agreements with the U.S., Japan, and China, which greatly contributed to providing foreign exchange liquidity amid tight credit market conditions.

In addition to monetary policies that include the substantial lowering of the interest rate by 3.25 percentage points by the Bank of Korea, the Korean Government has introduced an economic stimulus package that focuses on increasing public spending and providing substantial tax cuts to boost the economy. Just last month, a supplementary budget of 28.4 trillion Won (approx. 14.2 billion US dollars) has been approved by the National Assembly to shore up employment and expand the social safety net.

As a result of such aggressive measures, the Korean economy has recently been showing some signs of recovery, although these are intertwined still with bleak statistics and forecasts.

Following a March surplus of 3.35 billion dollars, the current account surplus hit another record high of 6.65 billion dollars in April. Korea's GDP grew by 0.1% in the first quarter of 2009, compared with the previous quarter, and since mid-March, we have also enjoyed relative stability in the foreign exchange and stock markets. Many international financial institutions and experts are publishing relatively positive reports on the prospects of the Korean economy.

Certainly, uncertainties still remain, both at home and abroad, and it will take some time and much effort across all sectors of the economy to fully stabilize and rebuild confidence in the financial market and restore growth.

Nonetheless, we need to look beyond the current crisis and search for ways to build a more resilient economy in order to make the best of such positive indicators.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The word 'crisis' in Chinese characters is a combination of two meanings; 'danger' and 'opportunity' implying that where there is a danger, there is an opportunity. The Korean government is working hard to take advantage of the current economic crisis as an opportunity for further growth. Our goal, as a nation, is not to stow our sails and simply weather this immediate storm, but to use this as an opportunity as the foundations for sustainable growth.

On the belief that a strong economy and a clean environment are not mutually exclusive goals and that Korea has to take an active part in tackling climate change on which the future of humanity so critically depends. President Lee Myung-bak, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Korea on August 15th last year, proclaimed "Low Carbon, Green Growth" as Korea's new national vision.

A month earlier at the G-8 Outreach Summit Meeting on Climate Change in Toyako, Hokkaido, Japan, he announced that Korea first, would be an early mover in climate change; second, would like to play a bridging role between developing and developed countries; third, would refine the Kyoto Protocol's market-based mechanism as well as to make use of the Bali Roadmap in order to encourage non-Annex 1 countries to reduce their carbon emission voluntarily through Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action; and fourth, Korea would launch the East Asia Climate Partnership that would carry out climate change programs in the amount of approximately 200 million US dollars over the next 4 years to support the countries in East Asia to deal with the challenges of climate change.

In a nutshell, "low carbon, green growth" is a vision which aims to shift from the current paradigm of quantity-oriented and fossil-fuel dependent growth to a new paradigm of qualitative growth that involves utilization of energy saving technology as well as of new and renewable energy sources. Korea's fast growth from the early 60s has benefited greatly from the quantitative growth model which heavily and extremely depended on labor and capital as major factors of production. In the new model of qualitative, green growth, technology, innovations, ideas would become the major sources of growth.

At about the time when we were embarking on the green growth strategy last year, the financial meltdown in Wall Street erupted, spreading out into the real sector. Therefore, we had to rapidly supplement our green growth strategy with short-term policy measures.

Specifically, we have embarked on the Green New Deal policy in January this year to create a low-carbon society while at the same time reviving the economy by creating jobs. The Green New Deal policy, therefore, is an amalgam of a long-term policy of expanding growth potential through "green strategy" and a short-term policy of creating jobs and revitalizing economy through "new deal."

When the current economic crisis is overcome, the "new deal" part of the policy will drop out leaving "green growth" as the major economic target. We are in the process of constructing the Green Growth 5-year plan with a 10-year rolling plan, I might say the first attempt in the world.

We have also established a Presidential Committee on Green Growth. The National Assembly is currently in the process of enacting a Framework Law on Green Growth, which will provide both institutional and legal bases for aligning all national as well as local rules and regulations with the new paradigm.

Thus by changing, adapting, transforming, and modernizing our system, the Korean Government is tirelessly working to move forward from the current crisis, and hopes to contribute to global efforts to reduce carbon emissions by successfully implementing the green growth strategy.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I ask you to share your valuable experience, vision and advice in defining the future direction of the world economy and its implications for Korea. I am confident that this gathering of world's financial experts will prove instrumental in providing insight and wisdom to the on-going global efforts to overcome the current crisis and strengthen the international financial architecture towards building a more resilient world economy.

In closing, I wish every success in tomorrow's Global Financial Conference. And for our foreign guests, I most warmly welcome you once again and wish you all the best during your brief stay in Korea.

Thank you.