Lee calls for review of investment, job creation conditions

SEOUL, Dec. 3 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak pushed Thursday for greater
efforts to improve investment conditions for foreign and domestic firms here,
noting businesses will not begin to offer more jobs unless they see attractive
opportunities.
"It is true our economy is now in a recovery phase, but there are still many
uncertainties in the domestic market, especially in the investment sector," the
president was quoted as telling a weekly meeting of the special presidential
economic committee.
"The government must review domestic conditions for investment to find out why
most private firms are taking their investments overseas," he said, according to
his spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye.
Lee has frequently urged the government and businesses here to "actively" and
"aggressively" invest, also insisting that all private companies bear a certain
level of responsibility to the people and society to create jobs in times of
global crisis.
He acknowledged, however, that there may be reasons why companies are seeking new
business opportunities elsewhere.
"We, too, must be able to offer various incentives to companies to encourage
their investments here," the spokeswoman quoted Lee as saying.
Lee also stressed the need to increase the amount of R&D investments, noting the
country was well equipped with highly trained human resources and that an outflow
of such investments may also lead to leaks of the country's advanced technology.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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