Former South Korean Prime Minister Un-Chan Chung today said education and human capital are the key elements to propel economic growth of a nation and cited the example of Korea.
"The first factor is human resource. A focus on education and investment in human capital is critical. With no significant natural resources or capital, South Korea had to rely on a highly educated workforce to drive economic growth," Chung said in his speech at the annual convocation ceremony of International Management Institute.
Speaking about sustainable growth, professor Chung advocated for shared growth model in his country for Korea's economic problems like falling exports and competitiveness.
According to him heart of the problem lies in aggravating economic polarization which posed a serious challenge to their economy.
"There is growing discrepancy between business conglomerates and small and medium scale industries. Just few conglomerates like Samsung, LG and Hyundai account for 60 per cent of the GDP up from 40 per cent since 10 years.
"Concentration of capital among a few is not a good sign," he said.
Even Free Trade Agreements between countries is done to meet shared growth vision.
Speaking about India, Chung admitted not having much information about this country, but said to his understanding gap between rich and poor is wide.
