Acting President Choi Sang-mok, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance, noted on the 12th, "We will strengthen support for excellent bio corporations through joint research and development in the U.S. and attracting investments."
최상목 대통령 권한대행 부총리 겸 기획재정부 장관은 12일 "우수 바이오 기업에 미국 현지공동 연구개발(R&D), 투자유치 등 지원을 강화하겠다"고 밝혔다.
On the 12th, Acting President Choi held a meeting of the ministers related to national affairs, economic affairs, and industrial competitiveness, and stated, "We will connect pharmaceutical and cosmetic development specialized corporations with Korean corporations that have production facilities in the U.S. and proactively respond to the (Trump) risk."
He added, "We will support investment in biosimilars, cultivate specialized personnel in cosmetic regulations, strengthen competitiveness, and accelerate diversifying exports."
Acting President Choi emphasized, "We must actively utilize free trade agreements (FTAs) in a situation where uncertainty in global trade is increasing."
He said, "I will simplify the requirements for issuing certificates of origin that must be submitted to the counterpart country to receive preferential tariffs." Currently, for five K-food items including chicken and 아귀 (hairtail), and six cosmetic items including lipstick and mask packs, eight types of proof documents are required, but in the future, only one will need to be submitted to receive the certificate.
Acting President Choi also stated, "Although they are domestically produced, we will expand the range of recognized proof documents to support origin verification for recycling products and used cars, where utilization of FTAs is low due to difficulties in tracking origin information."
At the meeting held that day, plans to revitalize the traditional liquor industry, reform the pension fund investment pool system, and prepare plans for large-scale forest fire prevention in spring were also discussed.
In relation to this, Acting President Choi stated, "I will actively support securing competitiveness so that traditional liquor can grow into a global brand like wine and sake." The policy aims to expand small-scale manufacturing licenses so that new breweries can easily enter the market and grow, as well as to increase benefits from liquor tax reductions and nurture traditional liquor as an export strategic product.
Acting President Choi also mentioned, "We will enhance the operational performance of the pension fund investment pool and diversify its management methods to support the development of capital markets and improve fiscal soundness." This includes expanding the trust for funds held by public interest organizations and promoting competition by expanding the participation of management firms to include securities firms.
Acting President Choi again urged the National Assembly to process the 'Semiconductor Special Act' and energy-related bills. He noted, "I hope the Semiconductor Special Act and energy-related bills will be immediately discussed and processed in the National Policy Council, and that an agreement regarding supplementary budgets will also be reached promptly."
Meanwhile, the government plans to hold an export strategy meeting next week. This is to check the export impacts after the new U.S. government announced additional tariffs on China and tariffs on steel and aluminum, as well as to discuss countermeasures. Acting President Choi stated, "Next week, we will hold the 'export strategy meeting' to discuss support for companies concerned about tariff damage and measures for diversifying export items and regions."