President Roh “I Will Promote FTAs Actively”

President Roh Moo-hyun made clear yesterday, “Our economy has now entered a stage of active opening, not a passive opening made by requests. An FTA is a task that cannot be postponed for two or three years, and I plan to push it actively from now on.”

At the third Overseas Economic Committee conference of the National Economic Advisory Council, President Roh stressed as above, adding, “With the global FTA trend, it is now a time when we can feel crisis, given that our products are being returned and expelled in those countries which do not have FTA connections with us.”

“Overseas economic strategies should change more actively and aggressively. Difficulties should be overcome in various aspects including technology, competitiveness, and capable market activities to upgrade our economy’s quality one stage,” said President Roh subsequently.

President Roh added, “I was moved from the heart and felt proud in seeing our companies diligently working despite various domestic problems while I was on my overseas tour. From now on, I will support our companies from behind for our national interest so that they can do business on foreign soil.”

Jung-Hun Kim jnghn@donga.com