British PM Cites Reform As Growth Key

British Prime Minister Tony Blair stressed that investment is the key to recovery, and reform the key to investment in a speech Thursday at the Seoul Hyatt Hotel. Mr. Blair was discussing the strategies that Korea can use to complete its economic reform.

Mr. Blair's speech, titled "Britain: Gateway For Asia In Europe" was at the invitation of the Federation of Korean Industries to welcome world leaders to the Asia-Europe business forum.

Mr. Blair praised Korean President Kim Dae-jung's leadership in guiding the country out of the 1997 financial crisis and also congratulated him for winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in opening up new opportunities to establish peace and reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula.

There is still more work to be done in Korea, Mr. Blair continued, to successfully accomplish reform. He said that Korea needs to focus on exposing its legal, banking and media sectors to the sort of foreign competition and investment that has helped make Korean industry world-class.

"With markets being more global in which no country can stand aloof from these developments," he said, "the role of government is not to create jobs or make commercial decisions, but to create conditions in which investment, innovation, and enterprise can flourish."

The prime minister clarified Britain's role in Europe: "Britain has led the drive to accelerate structural reform in Europe. At the Lisbon Summit last March, we succeeded in putting job creation through economic reform and focusing future legislation on opening up new markets. By winning the rest of Europe round to our point through engagement, we have advanced the vision of an open, deregulated Europe in which competition is a spur to economic development and not a threat."

On the conciliation between the two Koreas, Mr. Blair emphasized the essential role that the Korean business community plays, especially that of the Hyundai founder Chung Ju-young for conceiving and pushing ahead with a huge economic reconstruction project in North Korea.

Before the lecture, the British prime minister met for 15 minutes with domestic business leaders, including Federation of Korean Industries Chairman Kim Kak-choong, SK Chairman Son Kil-seung, Doosan Corporation Chairman Park Yong-oh, and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Yoon Jong-yong .

by Oh Jung-hee