President Moon Jae-in said Wednesday that venture business executives are at the forefront of digital innovation in the post-pandemic era, praising them for helping to transform the nation's economy into a pacesetter.

Moon made the remarks at an opening ceremony of an industry exhibition for startups, called "COMEUP 2021," earlier in the day.

"By accelerating digital innovation, the world has now embarked on a new takeoff that goes beyond recovering from the COVID-19 crisis," Moon said. "At the heart of it are startups that are creating products and services unseen and unheard of before with innovation and ideas."

"Startup fever is also sweeping over Korea," Moon said. "The number of those newly incorporated surpassed 120,000 for the first time in history."

Investments in venture businesses have hit a record high, and the number of Korean unicorn companies, which refer to unlisted startups with a valuation of more than 1 trillion won ($846 million) reached 15, Moon said.

"We are witnessing the 2nd venture boom indeed," Moon said. "I am confident that by attracting new investments on this occasion, they will grow into even bigger companies."

"Korea will root for you, invest in your potential, and march into a better world together with you," Moon said. (Yonhap)