Gov't to launch civic advisory group on green growth

SEOUL, April 19 (Yonhap) -- The government plans to launch a massive civic
advisory group next month that will work with a presidential committee to help
promote green growth, an official said Sunday.

The group will likely be the largest of its kind, involving over 400 people from
a range of backgrounds, including business and consumer representatives as well
as political and academic figures, the official at the presidential office Cheong
Wa Dae said.
"We must have active participation from the civic sector to efficiently promote
green growth," the official said.
The official said the group will be a "civilian partner" to the Presidential
Committee on Green Growth.
The committee was established earlier this year as President Lee Myung-bak, a
strong advocate of green technology, called for efforts to establish a new source
of sustainable growth after the global economic crisis is over.
Lee says new green technologies will not only boost the country's technological
and economic competitiveness, but will also create new jobs and help secure
energy independence for the world's fourth-largest oil importer.
In February, Seoul unveiled a 50-trillion won (US$37.5 billion) program, dubbed
the Green New deal, that it says will help create over 900,000 jobs.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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