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With the opening of the Asian Development Bank¡¯s 37th annual meeting one day away, domestic and foreign economic specialists pointed out during a seminar Friday that in order to maintain stable economic growth, Korea should push for strong reform measures, including improving the management structure of businesses, promoting the flexibility of the labor market and expanding the social safety net. The seminar was held at the Jeju International Convention Center.
In the seminar, Citi Group vice chairman Stanley Fischer emphasized the need for consistent reform of Korean conglomerates, saying that due to the terrible management structure of Korean firms in the Asian region, the phenomenon of the ¡°Korea Discount,¡±in which the stock prices of Korean companies are lower than those in Taiwan, India and Thailand, has developed.
Simon Jones, an MIT professor, said Korea has legal and institutional vulnerabilities in protecting investors and it is one of the reasons for the problematic management structure of Korean businesses.
Professor Jones stressed that the protection of investors and improvement of management structures are not only issues of businesses but may also affect the stability and growth of Korea¡¯s macro-economy.
Kim Seung-taek, a researcher from the Korea Labor Institute, said that the flexibility of the labor market should be enhanced, but the social safety net to protect the unemployed should be expanded at the same time.
Other specialists also pointed out that it is necessary to stimulate monetary and financial cooperation between Asian countries in order to maintain economic growth of the region.
Berry Ikengreen, a professor at UC Berkeley, said with the experience of the financial crisis in Asian countries, there is a growing need for monetary and financial cooperation between Asian countries to efficiently cope with a new financial crisis. It is urgent to secure financial resources to cope with unpredictable shocks, the professor emphasized.
(Park Yong-keun, ykpark@chosun.com )
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