The Korean and Australian governments met Friday in Seoul to discuss repealing business regulations to boost their economies and economic ties.

The Australian Embassy hosted the Best Practice Regulation Workshop, a public forum, to exchange ideas on business regulations.

The participants, including Australian Ambassador to Korea Bill Paterson, Korean and Australian government officials and a panel of experts from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, shared ideas on each government’s initiatives to cut red tape such as financial regulations in Korea and measures to protect foreign investors Down Under.

During the meeting, the Korean panel introduced measures they had taken, such as building a robust platform for regulatory reform and establishing a communication channel to address complaints about regulations.

The Australian participants also discussed their actions on deregulation. They said they had designated a “Repeal Day” to reduce regulatory costs and set up the Regulator Performance Framework to monitor regulators’ policies.

“I believe the forum marks a profound opportunity for Seoul and Canberra to push for regulatory reforms,” a Korean official said at the meeting.

He added that Seoul would take this forum as an opportunity to continue bilateral efforts on reforming business regulations.

Korea has been seeking cooperation with other governments in order to abolish trade barriers and retain its advantage over competitors in new markets, according to the Office for Government Policy Coordination, a Korean government agency dealing with business regulations.

By Yeo Jun-suk (jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)