(Yonhap Interview) More productive, attractive regions outside Seoul key to sustaining growth: OECD officials

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SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea needs to boost productivity in regions outside the capital area and make them more attractive places to live as it seeks to sustain economic growth and address demographic challenges, officials at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said Wednesday.

Lamia Kamal-Chaoui, director of the Center for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities at the Paris-based institution, said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency that the OECD has seen "something very interesting" in South Korea.

Despite the concentration of people and economic activity in the capital region, the country's regional gaps in GDP per capita are among the smallest in the OECD, she said.

"Indeed, you have the largest concentration of the capital region across the OECD," Kamal-Chaoui said. "(But the economic growth of South Korea came with) a level of regional disparities in terms of GDP per capita that is the lowest among the lowest in the OECD."

Lamia Kamal-Chaoui (R), director of the Center for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and Luiz de Mello, director of the Country Studies Branch at the OECD Economics Department, speak during an interview with Yonhap News Agency on Nov. 4, 2026, in Seoul. (Yonhap)

Kamal-Chaoui said the debate over regional disparities goes beyond economic growth to the question of whether such concentration in the capital region is "sustainable," particularly as some regions face population decline.

Seoul itself is not the problem, she said, adding that the problem arises when other regions decline.

"And now with demographic decline affecting some of the regions, you may start to have some issues related to productivity growth," Kamal-Chaoui said. "So there is a need here to rebalance economic growth."

Relocating public institutions to the central city of Sejong and other areas and attracting investment from conglomerates could help revitalize regional economies, Kamal-Chaoui said.

She added that South Korea should take a broader approach to improving the "attractiveness" of regions outside the capital area as places to live.

"Regional attractiveness is not just about providing subsidies and tax breaks to companies to locate," she said. "It's a much broader concept, much more holistic, which includes many other components, housing, good infrastructure, good services, access to childcare."

The OECD official said efforts to promote balanced regional growth should take into account what would draw skilled workers and their families to those areas.

"You don't attract workers, you attract families," she said.

Asked about the possibility of Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc. building chip plants in southwestern South Korea, Kamal-Chaoui said she was unfamiliar with the specific case. More broadly, however, she said, rebalancing economic growth involves more than attracting large companies to a region.

"What I mean by rebalancing economic growth is not just attracting large firms in places, which is great, but also is to make sure that you invest in the supply chain with the suppliers," she said, emphasizing the need to ensure that communities hosting such projects have the necessary "amenities."

She additionally called for investment in small and medium-sized businesses in the supply chain and in other areas of regional strength, citing "creative industries" as one sector with great potential.

Lamia Kamal-Chaoui, director of the Center for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), speaks during an interview with Yonhap News Agency on Nov. 4, 2026, in Seoul. (Yonhap)

Luiz de Mello, director of the Country Studies Branch in the OECD Economics Department, said South Korea would need to raise productivity to sustain growth as fewer people enter the labor market.

"The Korean economy is doing very well. If you look by any standard of growth over the last few quarters, the economy is booming," he said.

De Mello, however, said older workers remain underrepresented in South Korea's labor market and that this issue needs to be addressed in light of the country's demographic challenges.

"That's paradoxical because you're aging very fast. You should be attracting older workers to participate," de Mello said. "The challenge is how can you raise the level of productivity and spread that more equally throughout parts of the economy and throughout the regions of the country."

Turning to South Korea's planned Future Fund, de Mello said "the initiative is welcome."

The fund, set to launch next year, will use windfall tax revenue from the semiconductor supercycle to support younger generations, foster new sources of growth and promote regional development.

"There are other countries that have similar initiatives to save windfall gains. We often talk about countries that are rich in natural resources and they save those revenues," he said.

De Mello cited Ireland as an example, where the tech sector also accounts for a large share of government revenue.

The director, meanwhile, stressed the importance of setting clear rules on expenditures and focusing on a limited number of priorities. He also called for parliamentary oversight and said the fund should be part of South Korea's long-term fiscal strategy.

"Also, you (need to) make sure that you don't have too many objectives because it's always good to have one instrument and one objective," he said, advising South Korea not to "do too many things."

De Mello said South Korea should consider the long-term fiscal impact of demographic change when deciding how to allocate the fund's resources.

"So using part of the fund in the form of financial reserves for future spending demands is prudent," he stressed.

Kamal-Chaoui, meanwhile, added that regional development is a "transversal" issue that cuts across the fund's four pillars.

Accordingly, training programs supported by the fund, for example, could form part of a regional development strategy, helping South Korea coordinate spending across policy areas and avoid duplication, she said.

Luiz de Mello, director of the Country Studies Branch at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), speaks during an interview with Yonhap News Agency on Nov. 4, 2026, in Seoul. (Yonhap)

colin@yna.co.kr (END)

(Yonhap Interview) More productive, attractive regions outside Seoul key to sustaining growth: OECD officials

这将使谷歌能够向您展示与您的搜索匹配或相关的韩联社新闻文章。

首尔，11月4日（韩联社）——经济合作与发展组织（OECD）官员周三表示，韩国需要提高首都圈以外地区的生产力，并使这些地区更具吸引力，以维持经济增长并应对人口挑战。

总部位于巴黎的经合组织创业、中小企业、地区和城市中心主任拉米亚·卡迈勒-查维在接受韩联社采访时表示，经合组织在韩国看到了“一些非常有趣的事情”。

她表示，尽管首都地区人口和经济活动高度集中，但该国人均GDP的区域差距在经合组织成员国中属于最小之列。

“的确，韩国首都地区的集中度在经合组织成员国中最高，”卡迈勒-查维说。“（但韩国的经济增长也带来了）人均GDP方面区域差距最小的局面，在经合组织成员国中属于最低水平。”

2026年11月4日，在首尔，经济合作与发展组织（OECD）创业、中小企业、地区和城市中心主任拉米亚·卡迈勒-查维（右）和OECD经济部国家研究处处长路易斯·德·梅洛接受韩联社采访。（韩联社）

卡迈勒-沙维表示，关于区域差异的争论已经超越了经济增长的范畴，而涉及到首都地区的这种集中是否“可持续”的问题，尤其是一些地区面临人口下降。

她表示，首尔本身并不是问题所在，问题出在其他地区衰落的时候。

“如今，人口下降影响到一些地区，这可能会引发一些与生产力增长相关的问题，”卡迈勒-沙维说。“因此，这里需要重新平衡经济增长。”

卡迈勒·查维表示，将公共机构迁至世宗市中心及其他地区，并吸引财团投资，有助于振兴区域经济。

她补充说，韩国应该采取更广泛的措施来提高首都地区以外其他地区的“吸引力”，使其成为宜居之地。

她表示：“区域吸引力不仅仅是为企业落户提供补贴和税收优惠。它是一个更广泛、更全面的概念，包括住房、良好的基础设施、优质的公共服务以及托儿服务等诸多方面。”

经合组织官员表示，促进区域均衡增长的努力应该考虑到哪些因素能够吸引技术工人及其家人到这些地区。

“你吸引的不是工人，而是家庭，”她说。

当被问及三星电子和SK海力士是否有可能在韩国西南部建设芯片工厂时，卡玛尔-查维表示她对此具体情况并不了解。但她也指出，从更广泛的角度来看，重新平衡经济增长不仅仅是吸引大型企业落户一个地区那么简单。

“我所说的重新平衡经济增长，不仅仅是指吸引大型企业落户某个地方（这固然很好），还要确保对供应链中的供应商进行投资，”她说道，并强调需要确保承办此类项目的社区拥有必要的“便利设施”。

她还呼吁对供应链中的中小企业以及区域优势领域的其他企业进行投资，并指出“创意产业”是一个具有巨大潜力的行业。

经济合作与发展组织（OECD）创业、中小企业、地区和城市中心主任拉米亚·卡迈勒-查维于2026年11月4日在首尔接受韩联社采访。（韩联社）

经合组织经济部国家研究处处长路易斯·德·梅洛表示，随着进入劳动力市场的人越来越少，韩国需要提高生产率才能维持经济增长。

“韩国经济发展势头良好。无论从哪个增长标准来看，过去几个季度的经济都呈现蓬勃发展的态势，”他说道。

德梅洛表示，老年劳动者在韩国劳动力市场中的占比仍然偏低，鉴于韩国面临的人口挑战，这个问题需要得到解决。

德梅洛说：“这很矛盾，因为人口老龄化速度非常快。你应该吸引更多年长的劳动者参与进来。挑战在于如何提高生产力水平，并将其更公平地分配到经济的各个领域和全国各地。”

谈到韩国计划设立的未来基金时，德梅洛表示“欢迎这项倡议”。

该基金计划于明年启动，将利用半导体超级周期带来的巨额税收收入来支持年轻一代，培育新的增长点，促进区域发展。

他说：“其他国家也有类似的举措来保存意外之财。我们经常谈到那些自然资源丰富的国家，它们会将这些收入保存下来。”

德梅洛以爱尔兰为例，该国的科技行业也占政府收入的很大一部分。

与此同时，该主任强调了制定明确的支出规则和聚焦少数优先事项的重要性。他还呼吁议会进行监督，并表示该基金应成为韩国长期财政战略的一部分。

“此外，你们（需要）确保不要有太多目标，因为最好只有一个工具和一个目标，”他说道，并建议韩国不要“做太多事情”。

德梅洛表示，韩国在决定如何分配该基金的资源时，应该考虑人口变化带来的长期财政影响。

“因此，将部分资金以金融储备的形式用于未来的支出需求是审慎的做法，”他强调说。

与此同时，卡迈勒·沙维补充说，区域发展是一个“横向”问题，贯穿该基金的四大支柱。

她表示，因此，例如，该基金支持的培训项目可以成为区域发展战略的一部分，帮助韩国协调各个政策领域的支出，避免重复。

经济合作与发展组织（OECD）国别研究处处长路易斯·德·梅洛于2026年11月4日在首尔接受韩联社采访。（韩联社）

colin@yna.co.kr (完)

（韩联社采访）经合组织官员称，首尔以外更具生产力和吸引力的地区是维持经济增长的关键。