European biz group chief calls for deregulation

The head of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Korea (EUCCK) said Monday that Seoul must do more to ease business-related restrictions and improve its logistics infrastructure. In a news conference to mark his appointment as EUCCK chairman, Jean-Luc Valerio said change is needed if South Korea wants to expand business ties with European companies and attract investment. He stressed that in order for Asia's fourth-largest economy to attract more European capital, there is a need to fully open its financial service sector and do more for intellectual property rights protection. The businessman, who is president of the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company and was elected to lead the EUCCK in September, added that South Korea generally does not have a lot of business-restrictive policies, but claimed there are problems in the overall policymaking process. Valerio said, without going into details, that restrictions exist in the way government officials execute policies and how they interpret various rules. The aviation giant representative added that before imposing new rules, policymakers need to give early warning so companies can prepare. He, in addition, called for more flexibility in the country's job market. On South Korea's logistics sector, the EUCCK chief pointed out that there is an urgent need to overhaul this sector by upgrading state support. South Korea's logistics sector has been criticized for being too costly, and this inefficiency has hurt the country's overall competitiveness. The businessmen, meanwhile, said the bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) between South Korea and the European Union (EU), which went into effect in July, is helping to forge close business partnerships. He said companies from South Korea and EU should expand joint research and development, with European companies taking part in more trade fairs held in the East Asian country.