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WKF Busan: Korea Should Groom Maritime Finance Sector, Ease Regulations
South Korea should develop Busan, the country’s major port city on the south coast, into a maritime finance cluster and ease regulations on the financial, especially fintech, services to vie for the next Hong Kong as Asia’s financial hub, experts from academia suggested during the 2020 World Knowledge Forum Busan on Monday. The country must create a maritime finance ecosystem first to make Busan as the next financial hub of Asia, and the first step should be establishing a state bank for maritime finance services, Tony Michell, public policy professor of state think-tank Korea Development Institute, recommended at the 2020 World Knowledge Forum held in Busan, hosted by Maekyung Media Group. Michell, who joined the annual business forum as a speaker to share his insights into a move in Asia’s financial center of gravity following the recent political changes in Hong Kong, suggested Busan first transforms into a maritime finance hub that can provide comprehensive finance services for the maritime industry. He stressed Busan needs to attract maritime companies domiciled in Hong Kong to become the next Asia’s financial hub, and the best way to achieve its goal is by becoming a city where companies can get one-stop financial services for their maritime business needs. As a first step of setting such environment in Busan, Michell recommended on establishing a state bank specializing in maritime finance services in Busan. In a separate session on strategies to promote Korea as Asia’s finance hub, Jung Yoo-shin, Sogang University Business School professor, called for changes in the country’s finance system and relaxing regulations, including launching a regulatory sandbox, encouraging fintech’s growth and supporting digitalization in the finance sector. A regulatory sandbox refers to a framework that allows businesses to experiment new services in controlled environment under a regulator’s supervision. It often involves temporary exemption or deferral of regulatory rules to promote innovation. “At a time when Singapore, Tokyo, Sydney and Taiwan are fiercely vying for Asia’s financial hub, it is a must for South Korean to come up with regulatory innovation to compete against the global rivals,” said Professor Jung. By Special reporting team (Kim Myoung-soo et al.) and Cho Jeehyun [Photo by Kim Ho-young][ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]
2020.09.22
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WKF: Tobacco Companies Must Use Science to Reduce Harms of Smoking
Tobacco companies should take advantage of technology and innovation to provide better alternatives or less harmful products to smokers to allow countries to realistically end the sale of cigarettes within 10 to 15 years, said Andre Calantzopoulos, chief executive of Philip Morris International (PMI). “There are many human activities that are harmful – such as cigarette smoking – that science and scientific knowledge can, and are, helping to find solutions to reduce the harms they cause,” he said, in a virtual session on “How knowledge can help achieving a smoke-free future” at The 21st World Knowledge Forum on Friday. The CEO noted examples such as how the impact of climate change has made sustainability a key focus for governments and businesses and how fossil fuels are being phased out in favor of renewable energy. Automakers have also been shifting focus from gasoline to electric vehicles. “Tobacco and nicotine should also be part of this global conversation,” Calantzopoulos said. From such perspective, his company has been dedicating efforts to reduce the harm caused by cigarette smoking as there will be about the same number of smokers around the world in 2025 as today, according to the projection of the World Health Organization. “Today, we have the science, the technology, and the innovation that allow us to provide better alternatives to those who would otherwise continue smoking,” he said. “Cigarettes, a product that remained virtually unchanged for almost two centuries, can now be replaced by innovative, less harmful products.” Calantzopoulos noted that eliminating burning is most promising way to offer a less harmful alternative and “scientifically substantiated e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products do not burn tobacco but heat a liquid or a tobacco rod below combustion temperatures.” The CEO mentioned how the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently authorized the sale and marketing of PMI’s IQOS tobacco heating system as a modified risk tobacco product based on “review of the extensive scientific evidence package PMI submitted to the FDA.” “When properly regulated and subject to quality controls, they are much better options than cigarettes for adults who would otherwise continue to smoke,” he said. Calantzopoulos anticipated that many countries could realistically end the sale of cigarettes within 10 to 15 years “with the right regulatory encouragement and support from civil society.” By Lee Eun-joo[Photo by Kim Jae-hoon][ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]
2020.09.21
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WKF: Clear Focus and Commitment to Talent are Recipes for Startup Success: Silicon Valley Gurus
Sharpening your focus and recruiting top talent are critical for building successful startups, Silicon Valley mentors advised. “The biggest mistake I found in a lot of startups is a lack of focus,” Marc Randolph, co-founder of Netflix, said in a virtual session for startup entrepreneurs at the World Knowledge Forum in Seoul on Friday. “Everything is on fire in a startup, crying out for help, and you don’t have the bandwidth to handle it all,” he said. “You have to triage. Pick two or three things that are the most important. It may be hard to close your eyes to what’s burning all around you but you have to focus.” He was joined online by Jon McNeill, Lululemon board member and former Tesla president, who stressed the importance of finding the right talent. “There is no substitute for talent in business,” he said, adding that he would sometimes devote 40 to 50 percent of his time on recruitment. “Find the person who is the best in the field. Network like crazy.” Both Randolph and McNeill admitted they had never tried to start a company on their own and highlighted the importance of working as a team. “The job is so lonely to begin with so it’s critical to have a partner who can do half of the heavy lifting and with whom you can bounce ideas off of,” Randolph said. “There are times when you run out of gas and need to feed off of someone else’s energy,” McNeill agreed, adding that the most difficult thing about the current pandemic was not being able to be in a room with others physically and tap into that positive energy. They both acknowledged that there are vastly more material and financial resources for today’s would-be entrepreneurs, making it easier and faster for today’s startups to get their ideas off the ground. “Back then, we had to build everything from scratch and the path from having an idea to validating that idea was long and expensive,” Randolph said. “Now, the tech stack is so good and the process of validation a lot faster and cheaper, which has freed up people to focus more on their primary ideas.” While money has also become more readily available, it has come with its own set of problems. Randolph bemoaned the current culture that has “glorified” the world of entrepreneurship and said so many entrepreneurs were getting in for the wrong reason. “I want people to go in here because they want to solve problems, not because they’re looking for some path to fame and fortune,” he said. Randolph advised Korean startups to start thinking about going global early on and likened the process to riding a bicycle downhill on a rugged trail. “You have to look right in front of you to avoid the bumps and obstacles but periodically have to lift your head up and look far ahead to see where you’re going,” he said. “Likewise, you have to focus on getting it right in the local market, working out the business and the product. But if you’re not looking out internationally, you’ll be unprepared to scale beyond your borders.” Many successful entrepreneurs tend to have a predisposition to action, Randolph noted, and advised people to “do more and think less.” “If you have an idea, do something, build something, test something. You learn more doing it in one day than six months thinking about it,” he said. McNeill advised aspiring entrepreneurs to gather as many people when building a startup as it could be one of the loneliest jobs in the world. “Find mentors and peers you can trust. It will make the journey a lot more enjoyable.” By Kim Hyo-jin[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]
2020.09.21
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WKF: Equal Access is Another Hurdle to COVID-19 Solution After Vaccine Development
Multinational efforts are ongoing to develop effective jabs against COVID-19 that already killed nearly 1 million people around the world, but the development of a vaccine alone will not end this global crisis due to multiple challenging issues concerning supplies, mutations and origin of the virus, experts said. “Even though many wealthy governments are negotiating bilateral deals with individual vaccine manufacturers, there is no guarantee that they will ultimately be able to get them for their citizens and we need billions of doses, making them available to people in every corner of the globe,” Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance as he joined the World Knowledge Forum online debate in Seoul Friday. Dr. Berkley called for a global approach like COVAX, an initiative co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance and the World Health Organization (WHO), aiming at ensuring equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines across the world once the vaccines become available. Another critical aspect of this initiative is its full support for speedy vaccine development given the mounting death tolls and an economic impact that costs $500 billion every month. Unlike a normal 10-year vaccine development program, COVAX is trying to complete development within an 18-month timeframe through sequential trials and incentives to manufacturers with an initial aim of having 2 billion doses by the end of 2021, which he believes should be enough to protect high-risk and vulnerable people, as well as frontline health workers. Dr. Jerome H. Kim, Director-General of the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), echoed the initiative’s equity and access in vaccine distribution, citing that “13 years after a rotavirus vaccine was approved by the U.S. FDA and 11 years after the WHO’s recommendation, less than 40 percent of children receive necessary three doses.” Safety is another hurdle for vaccine developers. “There is no silver bullet in solving this problem. There are many variables to be considered in the real-world,” said Dr. Kim, raising five questions about COVID-19 vaccine development, including whether natural COVID infection can prevent re-infection, whether we will need seasonal COVID vaccines and whether animal models are predictive. He said it will be never easy to get back to the "old normal", adding “longer and formal monitoring for safety will be necessary” although shortening the clinical trial period can preserve efficacy. Dr. Xiang-Jin Meng, Distinguished Professor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, focused on addressing the root cause of this pandemic with an animal origin, warning a new zoonosis will occur in the future without concentrating on its cause properly as we witnessed H1N1, SARS, Ebola, MERS and now COVID cases. A zoonosis is any disease or infection that is naturally transmissible from animals to humans. More research will be needed to better understand whether the coronavirus came from a bat or a pangolin, said Dr. Meng, adding animal pathogens have infected humans due to deforestation, climate change, poaching, backyard farming, intensive farming practice and wildlife market to name a few. By Minu Kim[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]
2020.09.21
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WKF: Lack of Leadership Poses Greater Danger to The World Than Virus: Jack Ma
The world is in urgent need to find “new leadership” to encourage people and countries around the world to “work and unite together,” said Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group and Jack Ma Foundation. Although he believes the world has the capability to overcome this crisis as in the past, the “lack of new leadership and global solidarity” poses more serious problems for the global society than Covid-19, Ma said during a talk with Ban Ki-moon, former Secretary-General of the United Nations on Friday at the 21st World Knowledge Forum in Seoul. Ma founded Alibaba Group in 1999 and has grown the business into one of the world’s largest technology giants focused on e-commerce, retail and internet with its value reaching estimated $700 billion. He has devoted himself to philanthropy through his foundation from last year. The world should “unite together and work together” to fight the war against poverty, disease and environment destruction, Ma urged. In order to do so, “we need leadership more than anytime” that can guide us how to solve the world problems and what we should do together and unite each other, he said. Ban agreed by saying that “no single country, however powerful, cannot do it alone.” When Ban raised the roles of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Paris Climate Agreement are important guidelines and framework for the world to work together, Ma sighed “we have all the resources but do not use them efficiently because we don’t have leadership.” The pandemic is an opportunity to unite and help each other, Ma said while emphasizing the need to have “education, women leadership and entrepreneurship” to solve global problems and make progress in achieving the goals. Ma advised young entrepreneurs “believe in future, believe today is a great time to start business, and find a good team to work together.” He also stressed the importance of “starting from small” no matter how big the dream is. He said he believes the “digital economy” will “empower young people, developing countries and small companies,” so we have to move fast to make sure every business, school and country can be digitized. The virtual world enabled by technology after Covid-19 would be more efficient, but without a “new leadership,” the world would be set apart and it will be “disturbing,” as we still need the real world, he said. As a philanthropist leading Jack Ma Foundation, he said philanthropy is “not about giving money but about encouraging people to take actions.” It takes time and action, rather than money, for global leaders to wake up people and put heart in addressing global issues to bring changes, he added. By Choi Mira[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]
2020.09.21
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