Emergency Ministerial Meeting on Economic Affairs and Meeting on Export and Investment Promotion
Deputy Prime Minister Kyungho Choo convened the Emergency Ministerial Meeting on Economic Affairs and Meeting on Export and Investment Promotion at the Government Complex-Seoul on November 27 to discuss 1) regulatory innovation measures in emerging industries 2) strategies to foster advanced marine mobility and 3) plans to advance the quality of life-related services.
The following is a summary of DPM Choo’s remarks.
Although the Korean economy has recently been on a modest recovery track, the challenges facing people’s livelihoods still persist due to prolonged high interest rates and volatility in raw material prices. Under these circumstances, the government plans to call on the National Assembly to bring forward amendments that further extend the Serious Accidents Punishment Act’s grace period for entities with fewer than 50 employees. Also, as a means of boosting the vitality of tourism, the upper limit of immediate value added tax refunds for duty-free shopping will be doubled from the current level, starting from next year.
(single purchase: 500 thousand → 1 million won, total: 2.5 million won → 5 million won)
In addition, the government will back up the rapid growth of emerging industries by easing 20 on-site regulations in sectors including bio/healthcare, energy/environment and mobility; expand the scope of new service allowances to enable the launch of various healthcare services utilizing digital devices, while pursuing the institutionalization of contactless medical services for Korean expatriates; prepare support measures for the efficient enhancement of aging solar/wind power facilities, including reforms on separation distance regulations as well as establish separate industry classification standards for the carbon capture sector.
Furthermore, starting from next year, the government, the Korea Federation of SMEs (KBIZ) and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) will jointly operate an economic regulatory innovation platform to identify regulations that do not conform to global standards and check their actual operability on-site. Not only that, plans to raise the effectiveness of running regulatory sandboxes will be promptly devised and promoted.
The government will also make endeavors to vigorously foster advanced marine mobility through the proliferation of environment friendly ships; provide subsidies of up to 30% of ship prices for around 100 green ships newly built by the private sector by 2027, and reduce acquisition tax (currently at 2.2%) by a maximum of 2 percentage points.
At the same time, the government is planning to develop measures to advance the quality of life-related services such as funeral and postnatal care for the first time; address the difficulties facing the funeral industry by establishing regulations allowing for the maintenance of graves that have been in existence for over 30 years; pursue the modernization of cremation facilities by promoting new funeral methods such as scatter gardens and burial at sea and introducing cabinet-type cremators; and enhance three dimensional online memorial services. These endeavors aim to buttress the development of new funeral services that align with eco-friendly and non-contact trends.
With regard to the postnatal care, efforts will be made to increase its service quality by making reasonable improvements in staffing standards for nurses and nursing assistants, setting up guidelines on doctors’ ward rounds in postnatal care centers, and implementing an evaluation system for these facilities. Moreover, the government will strive to push ahead the service’s overseas expansion through export consortiums involving hospitals, postnatal care centers, and related industries.
please refer to the attached files.
