Finance ministry discusses Korea economic vision with AmCham

The finance ministry said Wednesday it discussed South Korea's economic vision with the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AmCham), including artificial intelligence partnerships and implementation of $350 billion in strategic investment.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Koo Yoon-cheol attended the meeting with James Kim, chairman of AmCham, US government representatives and domestic and foreign business executives. In response to recommendations in AmCham's April report on developing Korea as a financial hub, the government plans to raise the reporting threshold for foreign-currency borrowing by foreign bank branches and their cash-pooling limit from $50 million to at least $100 million.

Koo presented the government's 3-4-5 Vision, which targets potential growth of 3 percent, a fourth-place global export ranking and per-capita income of $50,000. He said the strategy would be supported by projects in semiconductors, AI data centers and physical AI. On AI, Koo cited $950 billion in cooperation agreements between Korean companies and US big tech at a San Francisco AI summit. The two sides also discussed cooperation between the government and AmCham's recently launched AI Leadership Committee.

Koo said KUIC was launched in June. He called on businesses in both countries to identify projects with commercial value and mutual benefits.

"South Korea's government sees AmCham member companies not as foreign companies but as part of the Korean economy," Koo said. He urged them to continue and expand investment.