three paths to enhance the korean economy ’ s competitiveness. however, they are all medium - or long - term tasks that will need a long time to bring to fruition. so then, what can provide a short - term breakthrough for strengthening competitiveness? the answer is to promote north - south economic cooperation on the korean peninsula. north - south economic cooperation could open up a new path toward absorbing the impact on the korean economy of its high wage costs, the dynamic rise of the chinese economy, and the revolution of openness. north korea offers very low production costs, particularly low - cost labor, and there is also the possibility of direct inland transport between the north and the south. it should also be relatively unproblematic for south korea companies to locate operations there because of the shared language and historical traditions. in addition, people in the two halves of korean peninsula have the sense of belonging to one and the same nation. on the basis of these advantageous conditions, the combination of south korean capital and technology and north korean work force can lead to stronger competitiveness in the high - end information technology sector as well as, of course, the more labor intensive sectors. needless to say, the setting - up of brisk economic cooperation between the north and the south is also very important in terms of preparations for reunification. at the present time, north korea is in great need of basic necessities because of the backwardness of its industrial facilities. if reunification were to take place without adequate preparations under these circumstances, huge number of north korean people would flow into the south looking for work. this could turn into a national disaster. for the timely prevention of such a situation, we need to narrow the economic gap between the two koreas by stepping up investment in north korea. in this respect, a great deal depends on whether or not the industrial complex at kaesong, the southernmost city of north korea, proves a success. with the ground - breaking ceremony on june 30, the construction of the first stage of the kaesong industrial complex is underway with a ticket of some 180 million dollars ( 200 billion won ). kaesong is a very important staging post on the road between seoul and pyongyang, and it is located only some 60 km north of seoul. and it is understood that within the factory complex, the minimum wage will be only 57 dollars and 50 cents per month. the rate of tax will be very low. there are also guarantees that firms will have

christine lagarde : ecb press conference - introductory statement introductory statement by ms christine lagarde, president of the european central bank, and mr luis de guindos, vice - president of the european central bank, frankfurt am main, 16 december 2021. * * * good afternoon, the vice - president and i welcome you to our press conference. the euro area economy continues to recover and the labour market is improving, helped by ample policy support. growth is moderating but we expect activity to pick up again strongly in the course of next year. the latest pandemic wave and the omicron variant have prompted some countries to re - introduce tighter restrictions. energy prices have gone up significantly. and in some industries, there are shortages of materials, equipment and labour. these factors are restraining economic activity and are a headwind for the near - term outlook. however, although the public health crisis is still ongoing, many people have been vaccinated and booster campaigns have accelerated. overall, society has become better at coping with the pandemic waves and resulting constraints. this has lessened the pandemic impact on the economy. inflation has risen sharply owing to the surge in energy prices, and also because demand is outpacing constrained supply in some sectors. inflation is expected to remain elevated in the near term, but should ease in the course of next year. the inflation outlook has been revised up, but inflation is still projected to settle below our two per cent target over the projection horizon. we judge that the progress on economic recovery and towards our medium - term inflation target permits a step - by - step reduction in the pace of our asset purchases over the coming quarters. but monetary accommodation is still needed for inflation to stabilise at our two per cent inflation target over the medium term. in view of the current uncertainty, we need to maintain flexibility and optionality in the conduct of monetary policy. with this is mind, the governing council took the following decisions : first, in the first quarter of 2022, we expect to conduct net asset purchases under the pandemic emergency purchase programme ( pepp ) at a lower pace than in the previous quarter. we will discontinue net asset purchases under the pepp at the end of march 2022. second, the governing council decided to extend the reinvestment horizon for the pepp. it now intends to reinvest the principal payments from maturing securities purchased under the pepp until at least the end