The nation’s business community called for action plans to revitalize the sagging domestic economy, hit by the recent outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome.

“Business leaders brought in those ideas, with MERS fears dragging down the sagging domestic economy,” said Park Yong-maan, chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

According to a recent survey conducted by the KCCI, a growing number of Korean companies, especially small and self-employed businesses, felt a financial pinch from the spread of MERS in the past month. They went through such issues as canceled meetings with overseas buyers and a sharp fall in sales.

“It is critical for the corporate sector to work more closely with the government to tackle the difficulties caused by the MERS fears, and to turn the faltering economy around,” Park said.

He made the comments in his opening remarks at a contingency meeting of the KCCI’s chairmen committee, held at Lotte Hotel in downtown Seoul. KCCI hosted the meeting with its Seoul chapter.

Action plans, discussed at the corporate level to boost the economy, include the implementation of job creation and investments as scheduled and the support of the comeback of foreign visitors to Korea.

To lift domestic consumption during the summer, the KCCI leadership also asked member firms to host business meetings as planned and to encourage their employees to choose local cities for their summer vacation.

The business leaders proposed some ideas for government policymakers to support economic revitalization, including planning and implementing a supplementary budget.

They called for the government to draw measures to vitalize the service industry and asked for help to boost construction projects.

The business community also requested policies to create opportunities to increase exports, one of the two pillars for the nation’s economic growth, the KCCI said in a statement. Outbound shipments fell for five consecutive months until May.

The business leaders at the meeting included Shinsegae Group vice chairman Chung Yong-jin, Samsung Electronics CEO Park Sang-jin and Lotte Group vice chairman Lee In-won.

By Seo Jee-yeon (jyseo@heraldcorp.com)