National Assembly launches panel to speed up 'business voice' legislation

Politicians and business leaders have launched a standing public-private cooperation system aimed at driving South Korea's economic resurgence. The initiative seeks to translate the voices of businesses on the ground directly into bipartisan legislation and regulatory reform at the National Assembly. It aims to accelerate efforts to secure new growth engines for the national economy.

National Assembly Speaker Cho Jung-sik and Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Chey Tae-won, who also serves as chairman of SK Group, unveiled the plan at the launch ceremony of the National Assembly Committee for Economic Leap Forward, held at the Sarangjae hall in the National Assembly on Wednesday. Attendees included Kim Seong-won, chair of the National Assembly's Industry, Trade, Resources, SMEs and Startups Committee, and Cho Seung-rae, chair of the Fiscal and Economic Policy Committee. Also attending were Yoo Dong-soo, chair of the Political Affairs Committee, and CEOs of major companies. Cho and Chey will serve as co-chairs of the committee.

"The whole world is rapidly changing right now, and we are in the midst of a great transformation driven by shifts in the international order and the AI revolution," Cho said. "This is precisely the time when the government, businesses and the National Assembly need to join forces and solidify our cooperation for the future and advancement of the national economy."

He added, "I hope the Committee for Economic Leap Forward will become a bipartisan national strategy platform that maps out the future of Korea's economy and its new industrial ecosystem together." "At the same time, we will not forget the spirit of shared growth, so that no one is left behind in the process of achieving economic growth," he said.

Chey also said, "Because businesses' positions are unpredictable, the longer we wait, the more chances we lose for a great leap forward." "It would be good if things could fall within a predictable range as much as possible, but the international situation is not in a predictable state," he said.

He added, "I have a favor to ask of the National Assembly — please reduce the domestic variables." "That way, we can reduce the variables coming from the international situation and carry out the investments and plans we have already set," he said.

The National Assembly Committee for Economic Leap Forward is a bipartisan national strategy cooperation platform. Through it, the National Assembly and business circles jointly discuss the country's future economic strategy and ways to build a new industrial ecosystem. It builds on the "standing cooperation system between the National Assembly and business circles" that Speaker Cho Jung-sik proposed to KCCI Chairman Chey Tae-won at the Jeju Forum in July. Over the past month or so, a working-level team from the National Assembly and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry has been gathering opinions from businesses on the ground. The team has also been reviewing key agenda items in advance.

In addition, the committee will set up three core subcommittees aligned with the relevant standing committees. Each standing committee chair will directly serve as the head of a subcommittee to lead related legislative and policy discussions. Subcommittee 1, on industry, will be led by Chair Kim Seong-won, and Subcommittee 2, on tax and fiscal policy, by Chair Cho Seung-rae. Subcommittee 3, on fair trade and capital markets, will be led by Chair Yoo Dong-soo. Key committee members include CEOs of major companies such as Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor, LG, Hanwha, Lotte, Posco, GS, E-mart, CJ Group, Korean Air, HD Hyundai, Doosan and HS Hyosung.

A task force will support working-level discussions. It is co-headed by Yoon Sang-eun, senior policy secretary at the National Assembly Speaker's office, and Kim Jong-il, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry's standing vice chairman. The task force brings together experts from the National Assembly Secretariat, the National Assembly Research Service and the National Assembly Budget Office. It also includes Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry staff and outside experts, organized by subcommittee to provide ongoing support for reviewing bills and policies.

At the launch ceremony, the committee began in-depth discussions on legislation and policy in the three core areas. The discussions were based on a policy proposal that the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry submitted to the National Assembly. The committee also plans to review tasks proposed by the business community by subcommittee and push discussions forward quickly so that they lead to legislative and regulatory improvements.

An official from the Speaker's office said, "Until now, communication between the National Assembly and the business community has often centered on individual issues. The National Assembly Committee for Economic Leap Forward is meaningful in that it has built a standing cooperation system in which the Assembly Speaker and the head of the business organization serve as co-chairs, and the chairs of the relevant standing committees participate directly as subcommittee heads."

Kim Jong-il, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry's standing vice chairman, said, "Laws and systems need to change as quickly as the pace of corporate innovation for our economy to create new growth opportunities." "We will work closely with the National Assembly so that the business community's proposals do not remain shelved documents but lead to actual legislation and regulatory improvements," he said.