Asia Productivity Organization Secretary General Santhi Kanoktanaporn speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at Le Meridien Seoul, Monday. / Courtesy of Korea Productivity Center



APO chief stresses introduction of new index

By Park Jae-hyuk

An industry veteran from Thailand has dismissed growing concerns over Korea's low labor productivity.

Santhi Kanoktanaporn, secretary general of the Asia Productivity Organization (APO), pointed to problems with the previous method for measuring a country's productivity, during an interview with The Korea Times in Seoul this week.

Introducing the new concept of "sustainable productivity index," he said the index will precisely reflect the reality of each country under a new economic model.

"Countries adopted technologies to help their workers in the past, but they now use technology for their machines," he said. "The previous index therefore tended to underestimate labor productivities of technologically developed countries."

According to the secretary general, Singapore and the United States also faced similar problems.

A recent OECD report showed Korea lagging behind other member countries in labor productivity.

Only seven countries, including Greece, Poland, Chile and Mexico, showed lower labor productivity than Korea.

Against this backdrop, some experts criticized the incumbent administration for its labor-friendly policies, such as the hike in the minimum wage and reduction of working hours.

They said such policies will worsen the situation.

In response to the concerns, Kanoktanaporn said it is more important for people to work smarter rather than harder.

"If workers have the necessary technical skills for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, they must yield higher productivity than those who just work hard without necessary skills," he said.

The secretary general visited Korea to attend the APO meeting held in Seoul this week.

Heads of each country's productivity organizations gathered here to discuss the plans for the next two years.

APO invited officials from Amazon, Microsoft and NVIDIA as well to hold a conference on the future of productivity in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Santhi also stressed the importance of technology, saying it is essential for the survival of Asian countries.

"Asian countries could regard advanced technologies as optional five years ago," he said. "However, they cannot survive without the technologies now."

The secretary general acknowledged Korea as a center of excellence for its smart factories, so he asked for the Korea Productivity Center share the country's knowhow with other countries.

He also praised Korea for establishing the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

He said government support is imperative to enhance the productivity of small businesses, which has hindered the overall growth of the country's productivity.

"Most countries' SMEs have similar problems in terms of lack of good quality, high productivity and innovation," Kanoktanaporn said. "The government support will accelerate their success, allowing them to innovate themselves."

Citing the government's strategic plans to deal with the nation's aging populations by 2030, the secretary general also recognized Korea for taking proper measures on the issue.

He said APO and productivity organizations in each member country will keep advising policymakers in their countries, so their governments can be as foresighted as Korea.

Based on his 40-year experience in driving productivity enhancement initiatives and strategic international development programs, Kanoktanaporn took office as the APO's 11th secretary general last year.

He focuses on the use of technology to improve productivity of Asian countries.

The APO, which was established in 1961 as a regional intergovernmental organization, is devoted to enhancing productivity in Asian countries.

It is based in Tokyo and has a membership of 20 countries.