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The economic crisis that began from the United States is spreading globally and each country is experiencing a hectic time, attempting to stimulate the financial market and the real economy. In the financial market, credibility and trust are very important elements and absence of these two elements can generate more than a catastrophe. Being a geological neighbor of North Korea, South Korea not also faces regional and political disadvantages, but also economic instability that other countries do not have to deal with.
Recently, I attended a global conference that was held in Lisbon, Portugal. I had an opportunity to converse with the participants from other countries and they all asked me the same two questions. The first one was how the Korean financial market was doing and second was, whether Kim Jong Il of North Korea was suffering from a life-threatening disease.
In response to the first question, I said that despite the negative outlook put on the foreign media, there wouldn’t be any problem with the financial market, because the government was trying its best to maintain the market. To the second question, I simply stated that I didn’t know much about Kim Jong IL’s current health condition.
I do not know whether my answers were satisfactory to those listeners, but the point that I’m trying to make is that those two questions were stemmed from lack of credibility and trust on the financial market in Korea. No matter all the positive things that I can say to assure them, they are not going to change their minds and thoughts. What we desperately need here is to plant credibility and trust in their minds to change their thought process.
Credibility and trust are crucial fundamentals that exist in all types of relationships including family, company, country, business, and even personal relationships. All transactions, exchanges, and relationships are based on credibility and trust and they cannot occur without those two. That is why it is important to respect and understand each other to create those two essential elements.
Diverting the focus on to the venture capital industry, it is visible that the economic slowdown renders difficult market atmosphere. As a consequence, it is not easy to raise funds, discover companies to invest in, and seek for exit opportunities.
To improve the current market conditions, it is necessary to generate credibility and trust instead of pessimism. Fortunately, the financial market will improve over the time thanks to the huge efforts from the government of each country and global collaborations. However, we shouldn’t be satisfied with this seemingly temporary solution, Instead, we have to learn the lessons from this experience and move forward by respecting and understanding each other. Only that way, economy that is filled with credibility and trust will be able to flourish again.
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