Kim Dong Yeon, deputy prime minister and minister of finance, attends the G20 Finance Ministers & Central Bank Governors Meeting and talks about the major challenges facing the global economy, in Buenos Aires on March 20.
By Kim Eun-young and Hahm Hee-eun
Photo = Ministry of Strategy and Finance
Kim Dong Yeon, deputy prime minister and minister of finance, is attending the G20 Finance Ministers & Central Bank Governors Meeting in Argentina this week where he will discuss some of the major challenges facing the global economy.
In advance of the G20 Summit this November, this meeting was held in Buenos Aires, as Argentina holds the current G20 presidency. The meeting lasted two days and started on March 19. Finance ministers and governors of central backs from G20 members and other countries, and the heads of key international organizations, like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB), attended the meeting.
Kim pointed out that recent “trade friction” is a major threat to the global economy, and said that G20 members should avoid any expansion of such trade friction by imposing retaliatory tariffs in the case of protectionism.
Furthermore, to prevent such trade friction, each country should develop multilateral policies and strengthen the international trading system that is based on commonly accepted norms and multilateral agreements.
The conference also covered the future of workplaces and crypto-assets, touching on innovation and digital technologies.
Kim said that Korea is pushing for the creation of high-quality jobs related to IT, while at the same time making sure to protect vulnerable groups in society that have little access to technology through an increase in unemployment benefits and the minimum wage. Korea’s accomplishments in these fields were shared with other G20 members.
Concerning the recent growth in crypto-assets, Kim said that cross-border arbitrage could lead to cross-border capital movements, and that cooperation between G20 members is necessary. Kim requested G20 members’ participation in the International Finance Cooperation that will cover this issue when it convenes in Korea in June.
The second meeting of the G20 Finance Ministers & Central Bank Governors is planned for Washington on April 20.
eykim86@korea.kr
