"Labor-Management Relations Will Be Improved To Meet Global Standards"

The 36th International General Meeting of the Pacific Basin Economic Council (PBEC), the biggest nongovernmental economic organization, commenced yesterday. "I promise to ensure that no international business will feel a need to hesitate to invest in Korea because by establishing new progressive relations between labor and management within one or two years," said President Roh Moo-hyun yesterday during his opening speech at the opening ceremony, held at Hotel Shilla in Seoul.

President Roh said "related laws and systems would be revised to meet global standards," and "An independent public interests committee and other entities are now working together and will soon come up with reform measures emphasizing fair principles and mutual trust between labor and management." Roh also said that "Korea must establish an economic system matching world standards from business accounting and corporate governance to market order and financial systems, everything that does not measure up to global standards will be reformed,¡° suggesting establishment of a market driven economy as the new government`s policy objective.

During the general meeting, which continues until Wednesday, issues such as the political and economic forecast after the Iraq War and effects of China`s rapid growth on the global economy are planned to be discussed. During the North Korean session on Wednesday, North Korean nuclear weapons issue and the prospect of the Korean Peninsular will also be discussed.

The list of speakers includes international figures such as Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand Prime Minister; James Woolsey, a former CIA director; John Sculley, the founder of Apple, Maurice Strong, special adviser to the Secretary General of the United Nations from Canada and KimJin-pyo, deputy primeminister and minister of economy and finance and Na Jeong-il, president and national secutiry adviser. PBEC was founded in 1967 and is an association of 1,100 multinational corporations from 20 countries. Generally, the general meeting is held annually in May but was delayed about 3 months this year due to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.

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