The head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea expressed hope that the country would elect a business-friendly leader during the Dec. 19 presidential election.

AMCHAM chairman Pat Gaines said Korea’s next president should be someone who is able to create an environment that helps bring down barriers for foreign business.

“When you take a look at the amount of jobs created in Korea by foreign investment, the numbers are phenomenal. It means jobs. It means careers. It means money,” he said in an interview with The Korea Herald.

He took the example of the Korean unit of U.S. retail giant Costco, which has been mired in controversy over its forced Sunday closure.

“It has over 3,600 employees in Korea. Not only that, (they) also do business with over 600 Korean companies that they get the products from. The total job effect from a company like Costco is huge,” said Gaines, who is also president of Boeing Korea.

Advocating the U.S. retailer as a corporate responsible, law-compliant company that is doing the right thing, he pointed out that too much discussion here is about foreign companies taking too much profit and not about how much benefit they are giving back.

Such anti-foreign sentiment may partly root from the fact that Korea is very proud, he said.

“If you look at the economic miracle of Korea, what Korea has done during the past 60 years, they have a lot to be proud of. There are those who say ‘why do we need these people (foreign companies) in Korea? Korea can do it all on its own.’ So there is sometimes an anti-foreign sentiment,” said the AMCHAM chairman.

Though noting that such people take up only a small faction of the society, Gaines said that the small faction can also make a lot of noise about the matter.

“That’s probably why it is important to have everyone educated on the benefits.”

The incumbent Lee administration has done a lot that benefited the business community for both Korean and foreign businesses, he said, mentioning activities that occurred with the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), Invest Korea, the ombudsman system and the Presidential Committee on National Competence.

“Those are things that make investing in Korea attractive. It gives foreign businesses an avenue by which to at least express their difficulties and ways to help work them through,” he said.

Gaines also claimed to be a strong advocate for the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. Though it is hard to argue on the overall benefits of the FTA, Gaines said that it is creating jobs in both countries, and that is exactly what it was intended to do.

“When I look back at the whole administration of President Lee, he has been very proactive in seeing free trade agreements. And when you look at that, those free trade agreements are setting the basis for the Korean economy to continue to grow. And I emphasize that because free trade agreements help with some of the areas that tend to keep people from wanting to invest,” he said. 

“The same things that are put in place that make Korea attractive to U.S. business make it attractive to other countries to invest in Korea, too.”

About some of the presidential candidates expressing opinions on possible renegotiation on the Korea-U.S. FTA, Gaines said that FTA itself has the methodology to grow and change, and that it has an ability to renegotiate under its processes.

“No economic agreement, no free trade agreement will please everybody. But the great thing is, with both of our governments, they look at ways and say, okay, if there are ways that this may not be of benefit of a certain sector of the (economy), they work other programs to work the sectors out.”

Gaines added that U.S. President Barack Obama has a special relationship with Korea and it would continue no matter who becomes the next Korean president.

Next year will be the most exciting year, said the AMCHAM chairman, with the Korea-U.S. FTA settling down and AMCHAM celebrating its 60th anniversary.

One of the major focuses will be on innovation, which AMCHAM members consider as the next step to take between the two nations which have very strong political, military and trade alliances.

The AMCHAM Council on Innovation for the Future, which inaugurated in October to promoting innovation in both U.S. and Korean companies, will hold a second meeting this month to build up a detailed road map.

“Our plans are to bring in some of the key innovators that our companies have from around the world, give speeches and talk about innovation,” he said.

A great emphasis will be put on corporate social responsibilities as well.

Boeing Korea, for example, will contribute almost a half a million dollars toward education and scholarships to help train more engineers and foster science.

Gaines, who visited Korea for the first time in 1983, said that he attributes the phenomenal changes that occurred in the country to its people, which is Korea’s only natural resource.

“When you look at the Korean people, their drive for entrepreneurship and business are second to none. That combined with the drive for education is the envy of many. President Obama praised Korean education multiple times,” he said.

Fostering engineers and educating science, in particular, is an essential element for the economy and innovation, Gaines emphasized.

Boeing is also conducting various other educational activities by partnering with NGOs such as the Korea Green Foundation, Seoul Science High School, and Junior Achievement Korea.

AMCHAM’s charity arm Partners for the Future Foundation has raised over $12 million since its establishment in 2000 to provide scholarship to university students, medical expenses for youth, and limited vocational training program for disadvantaged Korean families. Over 1,800 students attended local universities so far thanks to the fund.

Gaines also talked about some of the noteworthy corporate social responsibility activities by other AMCHAM member companies, including FedEX Korea’s three-day career camp held last month jointly with AMCHAM’s Foundation to support career development of 40 Korean students who attend universities outside of Seoul; and Pfizer Korea’s Dream Camp and Scholarship of Love which through which the company offers opportunities and annual scholarships.

Though many U.S. firms are interested in CSR and conduct various activities in Korea, the public is often not aware of it as the companies tend to keep it low-key so it does not appear that they are doing so for media attention, Gaines said.

Believing that it is a sector which should get more press, even to set model examples for other companies, AMCHAM decided to highlight the member companies’ activities. It has been publishing, starting this year, the CSR activities in its quarterly journal.

Gaines also stressed that it is important to not let CSR be one of the areas where they tighten their belts, especially in times of economic downturn.

“You will see that we will still be very active in promoting CSR. It is not something that we do for advertisement. It is something we do on a daily basis,” he said.

Gaines said that CSR is an area one will find in any U.S. company, something into which they put a lot of time and effort.

“We are honored to be a part of the Korean community. I always talk about how Korea is really a part of Boeing. If you look at any of our commercial airplanes flying today, there are major parts on them from Korea. And I counter that by saying that Boeing is really a part of Korea,” he said.

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldcorp.com)