Delivering a New Year's address at the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP), Minister Choi Yang-hee spoke about Qin Shi Huang’s empire protected by strong and lofty ramparts in an effort to describe the MSIP’s New Year’s resolution to strengthen the creative economy platform and help the creative economy grow on its own.
“In order to create quality jobs for the youth this year, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning will complete the construction of a sustainable ecosystem for the creative economy initiative and let the creative economy platform put down deep roots in Korean society. By building an environment where conglomerates, venture capital firms and SMEs can prosper harmoniously, we will transform the Korean economy into a self-sustaining creative economic system driven by the private sector,” Minister Choi said.
Saying that “Leveraging South Korea’s strengths in ICTs, we will enhance the competitiveness of domestic industries and expand future growth engines,” Minister Choi underlined the ministry’s renewed focus on encouraging startups and creating jobs for the youth through the expansion of employment zones and regulation-free zones and the promotion of regional strategic industries.
“By following through with the ‘Action Plan for Software-centered Society’ and ‘K-ICT Strategy’ without delay, the ministry has made numerous achievements especially in the area of innovating software education. This year, the ministry will create new industries by grafting ICTs onto various sectors such as car, shipbuilding, finance, medicine and agriculture. Also, we will ensure timely supply of radio frequency bands and improve broadcasting and communications services,” Choi added.
As for policy for helping the nation adapt to this IoT-based super-connected era, the ministry will double its efforts to nurture IoT, cloud computing , big data analytics and data protection into new industries. Furthermore, the ministry is poised to push for speedy deregulation to lower legal or regulatory barriers preventing entry into several convergence sectors.
“We are confronted with changes in global value chains, such as the worldwide low growth trend and each country bearing more of the burden of reducing greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris agreement on climate change, and a drop in the economically productive population owing to population aging. To ride out such challenges, we need to unite in having the Korean economy’s growth engines firing on all cylinders once again,” Minister Choi said.