Our country is proud to be an extraordinary example of a war-torn and terribly impoverished nation transformed into a high-income economy. We are now the 11th largest economy in the world, but growth rates have recently taken a slowing trend. This movement toward low growth is troubling, not because of the numbers themselves, but rather because they reveal structural limits to our current economic arrangement. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay To a large extent, South Korea's exceptional economic performance from the 1970s onward can be attributed to the country's devotion to maintaining sound fundamentals: human growth capital, high savings, strong institutions and fiscal policies, and relatively well managed monetary institutions. Another feature often highlighted is the high level of economic openness, which subsequently allowed domestic industries access to low-cost raw materials, huge markets and advanced technologies, through which economic growth based on a high productivity. But a problem with this type of strategy is that the country becomes disproportionately dependent on trade, and therefore highly vulnerable to both global demand and supply shocks. Korea's GDP growth forecast stands at around 2.9%, but Korea can regain its momentum by taking steps to reshape and diversify its sources of growth. There are largely two paths: demand-side stimuli and supply-side productivity gains. President Moon, you are actively pursuing the first goal with increased government spending, expansion of public sector jobs, redistributive policies and minimum wage increases. However, the two paths are not mutually exclusive and, in fact, the latter strategy has the potential to generate more lasting growth effects. Therefore, my first recommendation is that, along with policies aimed at increasing income and consumption, it is necessary to carry out a simultaneous search for innovation on the supply side. The most effective means to achieve this would be to increase competition and thus stimulate innovation by reducing barriers to foreign investment, supporting start-ups and SMEs by encouraging entrepreneurship, and addressing the monopoly of the chaebol. President Moon, we live in a globalized world. The fate of an individual country's economy does not depend entirely on its own activities, but is critically influenced by circumstances and the actions of other states. Therefore, my second suggestion is to make efforts to promote regional economic integration, especially with underdeveloped ASEAN countries, to further utilize and strengthen the global value chain. Much of the potential lies in the heterogeneity of factor endowments across Asian economies, as this may result in an international division of labor. Furthermore, now is the time to improve regional cooperation in addressing financial crises, building on our experience that such crises cannot be contained or resolved within one country's borders. Finally, I propose a more active diversification in business partners. Although market mechanisms should be able to naturally direct trade flows, the government should intervene if too many eggs end up in one basket. Methods of intervention may include additional preferential trade agreements and encouraging companies to expand their trade ties with Russia, India and.
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