Won Dong-jin, Director General for International Trade Policy at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy  (MOTIE)

Orea has surpassed $1 trillion in trade for the fourth straight year. The nation will likely see the Triple Crown this year as it did last year — record high trade, record high exports and record high trade surplus. 

Of late, SMEs and mid-size superstar companies’ percentage of exports is on the rise, but the increase has insufficient trickle-down effects, since the figure is still lower vis-a-vis those of advanced countries.

“We plans to boost the e-commerce trading industry, which is still in the nascent stage despite of expanded e-commerce transactions and a rise in Korean consumers’ direct on-line purchases,” said Won Dong-jin, Director General for International Trade Policy at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE). He went on to say that the government will come up with a package of steps to overhaul the overall systems such as shopping malls, customs clearance, and logistics as well as to provide support so that SMEs and mid-size superstar companies can explore overseas marketing arenas through Business-to-Consumer (B2C) e-commerce. Following are excerpts of an interview between NewsWorld and Director General Won, in which he spoke of the government’s policies to promote the Korean exporting industry. 

Question : will you introduce our readers  to the Trade Day anniversary event?

A: Trade Day, which falls on Nov. 30 every year, was created to celebrate the nation’s exporting $100 million in 1964. The nation has observed the Trade Day anniversary ceremony on Dec. 5 every year since 2011, when Korea made a feat of first achieving a $1 trillion trade. This year, the Trade Day anniversary event took place at COEX in southeastern Seoul on Dec. 5, with some 2,400 people from trade award winners and leaders from government and related organizations in attendance. 

Despite the external unfavorable circumstances such as a low yen, the resurging of advanced countries’ manufacturing industries, and rising trade restrictions against Korean goods, the anniversary event bore another trade milestone — surpassing the $1 trillion mark earlier, a record high of trade, export and trade surplus. This year, the nation logged $1 trillion in trade on Nov. 28, earlier than Dec. 5, 2011 and Dec. 10. 2012, and Dec. 6, 2013. The event was designed to give words of encouragement to those who have contributed to making the feat.

True to the title of the anniversary event, “Rise to a Global Trading Powerhouse through the Creative Economy,” the participants demonstrated their determination to overcome an economic crisis through changes and innovation of the Korean trading industry and the creative economy. President Park Geun-hye presented awards to 14 people and 14 companies who contributed to the development of the Korean trading industry.

Q: Will you elaborate on the current imports and exports, and achievements the nation has made so far this year?

A: Corporate Korea has paired relatively well vis-a-vis the stark trading uncertainties such as the delayed recovery of the European economy and slugging exporting of items competing with Japanese counterparts. The nation chalked up $523.7 billion in exports for the first 11 months of this year, up 2.4 percent over the same period of last year and $481.9 billion in imports, up 2.3 percent to register a $41.9 billion trade surplus. 

Korea has achieved $1 trillion in trade for the fourth straight year. The nation will likely see the Triple Crown this year as it did last year — record high trade, record high exports and a record high trade surplus. Cumulative trade surpassed the 1 trillion mark on Nov. 28 for the fourth year in a row, and it will likely set as new record this year. The amount of trade stood at $1.079 trillion in 2011, $1.067 trillion in 2012, $1.075 trillion in 2013, and it will likely rise to about $1.1 trillion won this year. 

This year will likely see exports rise to some $575 billion, up 2.8 percent over 2013, renewing the previous record high of $559.6 billion set in 2013. Exports were worth $555.2 billion in 2011, $547.9 in 2012, and $559.6 billion in 2013. 

Korea’s 2014 trade surplus is projected to grow to about $45 billion during the whole of the year due to a rise in exports and a drop in raw material prices, renewing the previous record high surplus of $44 billion set in 2013. The country’s trade surplus plunged from $41.17 billion in 2010 to $30.8 billion in 2011 before swelling from $28.2 billion in 2012 to $44 billion in 2013 and is forecast to stand at some $45 billion in 2014.

The Korean trading industry has shown signs of improvement, with SMEs and mid-size superstar companies leading the rising trend and export items being diversified. The portion of SMEs and mid-size superstar companies rose from 32.1 percent in 2012 to 33 percent in 2013 and 33.7 percent during the first nine months of this year. In particular, SMEs and mid-size superstar companies saw their mainstay exports on the rise. Steel products surged 9.9 percent, semiconductor exports jumped 7.76 percent, shipbuilding exports rose 7.7 percent, and mobile gadgets increased 6.1 percent during the January-November period of the year. 

Q: Will you introduce your ministry°Øs strategies to promote exports?

A: The government will concentrate on support to nurture SMEs and mid-size superstar companies, now primarily depending on domestic demand, into major exporters as parts of efforts to expand the nation’s export base. To this end, some 10,000 SMEs and mid-size overachieving companies will be fostered into exporters.

Of  late, SMEs and mid-size overachieving companies’ percentage of exports has been on the rise, but the increase has had an insufficient trickle-down effect, since the figure is still lower vis-a-vis those of advanced countries. SMEs and mid-size superstar companies’ share in the Korean export industry stands at 2.7 percent, compared to 10.9 percent in Germany, 11 percent in the United Kingdom and 9.4 percent in the Netherlands. 

If domestic demand-oriented companies become exporters, they will have spill-over effects for the overall economy, such as job creation and expanded domestic demand, riding on workers’ rising incomes. 

To this end, the government announced steps to transform domestic companies into exporters during the 6th National Trade Promotion Meeting, which was presided over by President Park Geun-hye on Aug. 12. They call for exploring promising export candidates, providing support tailored to meet their needs, and designating and operation of trading companies. 

We plan to boost the e-commerce trading industry, which is still in a nascent stage despite expanded e-commerce transactions and a rise in Korean consumers’ direct online purchases. The government will come up with a package of steps to overhaul overall systems, such as shopping malls, customs clearance, and logistics as well as providing support so that SMEs and mid-size superstar companies can explore overseas marketing arenas through Business-to-Consumer (B2C) e-commerce.