Acting Minister Lee Hyung-il of the Ministry of Economy and Finance said on the 27th, "We will establish a system for nurturing artificial intelligence (AI) talent to create synergy with our strength in manufacturing."
The acting minister chaired the "National Competitiveness Policy Council" at the Government Seoul Building that day and made the remarks. The National Competitiveness Policy Council is a consultative body composed of vice ministers from relevant ministries, including the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Ministry of Employment and Labor to enhance national competitiveness.
Participants analyzed the results of this year's International Institute for Management Development (IMD) national competitiveness evaluation at the meeting and discussed directions for future competitiveness enhancement. Korea's IMD national competitiveness ranking this year is 27th out of 69, a drop of seven places from last year.
The acting minister noted, "The rankings in categories focused on corporate efficiency and infrastructure have fallen," adding that "It is necessary to thoroughly review and analyze the vulnerable parts of our economy pointed out by the IMD and use it as an opportunity to strengthen national competitiveness."
He stated, "As AI emerges as the core of national strategy, we will build an innovative ecosystem for the AI transformation." He added, "To foster innovative corporations in the era of digital transformation and rapid technological change, we will actively promote the rationalization of old and fragmented administrative regulations."
The acting minister requested, "Each ministry should pay attention to the way administrative services are provided," emphasizing that "Opinions from corporations should be sufficiently gathered, and civil complaints should be handled appropriately and swiftly."
He mentioned, "To improve vulnerable areas such as tourism revenue and foreign direct investment, we will nurture the tourism industry as a national export industry and expand the national support system for cultural content." He added, "We will support the global advancement of K-culture systematically linked with national promotional strategies."
Regarding science and technology infrastructure, he said, "We will assess the overall infrastructure to meet the expectations of corporations and improve weak factors," and added, "To secure future growth engines, we will significantly expand support for young science and technology personnel who will lead scientific and technological innovation."
The acting minister stated, "We will strengthen cybersecurity for national critical infrastructure and personal data protection and establish a government-wide cybersecurity response system," and noted, "We will take advantage of excellent areas like improved economic performance and government efficiency to further enhance national competitiveness."