Seoul: President Lee Jae Myung on Friday met with Peter Howitt, a co-laureate of the 2025 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, to discuss an innovation-driven growth strategy for South Korea.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the president congratulated Howitt, professor emeritus of economics at Brown University, on his Nobel Memorial Prize honor and asked him for "words of advice on South Korea's economic growth strategy" during their meeting at Cheong Wa Dae in central Seoul. Howitt was awarded the 2025 Nobel Memorial Prize in economics, along with two other scholars, for his "theory of sustained growth through creative destruction."
The president noted that senior presidential secretary for economic growth Ha Joon-kyung studied under Howitt, saying Ha's growth policy, based on Howitt's teachings on innovation-driven growth, has been of "great help" to South Korea. The professor expressed appreciation for Lee's remarks and stressed that South Korea is at the "frontier" of the global economy, driven by its leadership in artificial intelligence, semiconductors and other advanced technologies.
Howitt, in particular, pointed to South Korea's second-largest spending in the world on research and development, describing the Lee administration's financial support for startups and small and medium-sized firms as a positive development. He added that South Korea's sound fiscal position and stable management of inflation have contributed to the country's strong economic performance despite persistent global uncertainties.
According to data from the Bank of Korea, South Korea's gross domestic product grew 1.7 percent in the first quarter from three months earlier, marking the highest rate among the 22 countries that had announced comparable figures as of mid-May.