Roh to Meet with Business Leaders

A meeting will be held between President Roh Moo-hyun and the leaders of the top 20 companies at Cheong Wa Dae on May 25. The business community said it would have an honest dialog with the government about government regulations and other obstacles to investment and call for the government’s support and understanding.

“It has been pointed out that vague complaints about the sluggish economy or difficulties in making investments would not be enough to persuade the government,” said an industry source yesterday. “We plan to talk about the difficulties of large companies in implementing an investment project specifically and ask the government to take the leading role in removing obstacles.”

He said, “Cheong Wa Dae also requested us to discuss the difficulties in implementing investments specifically rather than just mentioning about the crisis. The business community will respond to the request and disclose the difficulties we are facing in detail through remarks by business leaders at the meeting and relevant documents that will be submitted in advance.”

Another source also said, “Cheong Wa Dae requested us to identify specific obstacles to promoting investment and creating jobs.”

Chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries, Kang Shin-Ho, chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce Industry, Park Yong-sung, and chairman of the Korea International Trade Association, Kim Jae-chul, will also participate in the meeting.

President Roh will also meet leaders of small- and medium-sized enterprises to hear their difficulties on May 21. Chairman of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business Kim Yong-Gu will attend this meeting.

Won-Jae Lee wjlee@donga.com