Chey Tae-won, president of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, ahead of 2026 said, "We must correct a structure in which regulation and burdens increase as corporations grow," and added, "We need to build a growth-friendly institutional environment so that innovating corporations can scale up and their results lead to job creation and the spread of social value."

Chey said in a New Year's address on the 29th, "This is the moment that calls for a comprehensive strategy that can lift both the speed and the height of growth beyond a short-term rebound," and added, "We need to enhance institutional predictability so that investment and innovation by corporations—the main actors of growth—are not dampened, and rationally improve the structural burdens that arise as corporations grow."

Chey Tae-won, President of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry. /Courtesy of News1

Chey stressed the need for public-private cooperation in artificial intelligence (AI), digital transformation, and green transformation (GX). He said, "Investment in these fields is not a simple expense but a process of preparing for future industries and jobs," and added, "To secure global competitiveness in AI and GX, execution capability and speed that can withstand large-scale investment are essential, and for this, close cooperation between the government and corporations that goes beyond existing frameworks and methods is more important than ever."

He also cited revitalizing regional economies as a way to pursue both a new leap for the Korean economy and solutions to social problems. Chey said, "Now is the time to make regions a test bed for institutional innovation, build competitiveness in future industries, and seek solutions to structural challenges."

Chey said, "Ultimately, the starting point of all these changes is a new spirit of entrepreneurship," adding, "Today's industrial competitiveness of Korea is the result of challenges that blazed new trails while taking risks." He added, "We hope that this spirit of entrepreneurship will once again become a driver of growth, backed by government policy support and social consensus."

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