Diverse strategy offers many possibilities
In the year 2007, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (MOCIE) seems to devote energies to early industrialization of the future growth engine industry.
To correspond to the future demand and to regard them as a prop of our economy after 5 to 10 years, the Korean government has announced 10 next-generation growth engine industry on August, 2003. This is namely display, intelligence-model robot, future-model auto, next-generation semiconductor, next-generation battery, intelligent-model home network, new medicine, digital TV/broadcasting, nextgeneration mobile telecommunication, and digital content software solutions.
Following such projects' ambitious drive over several years, MOCIE is searching for diverse new industry/new market creation on the background of convergence between new technologies such as the latest new trend bioinformation- technology (BIT) and nanoinformation- technology (NIT).
It is said that advanced countries like the United States, Japan and Europe encourage the convergence of biotechnology, information technology, and nanotechnology as a post IT growth engine, according to Minister Chung Syekyun, MOCIE.
In a New Year written interview with the Korea IT Times regarding MOCIE New Year policy direction, Minister Chung said: "To preoccupy the future new industry, right now MOCIE analyzes technology industry's convergence trends such as flexible display, three dimension display, wearble computer, unmanned auto, remote medical examination and treatment and is setting up new industry development strategies based on these trends."
Significant technology development strategy
Regarding export products' high value added as well as brand measures, Chung underlines: "It is important to enlarge high value-added export product through high value-added core technology as well as differentiation with competing countries in terms of Korea's key export industry."
As part of such measures, MOCIE drives strategies to harden the number one position globally of high valueadded strategy industry such as digital electronics, semiconductor, displays. It also seeks to secure the core technology of the future-model auto like fuel battery car, the Minister comments.
Beyond this, Minister Chung commits himself to facilitate overseas market inroads of future society ushering model industries such as robotics, nanotechnology and biotechnology.
For readers' reference, robotics aims to enter into one of three intelligent-model robot technology powers globally by the forthcoming 2013, accomplishing world market share 15%. Nanotechnology also aims to secure the highest level nanotechnology commercialization technology over 30 by 2015.
Through design as well as brand value boost, Chung further committed himself to nurture aggressively world first-class product even more in the year 2007. Korea's world first-class products totaled 547 items as of November 2006 and will increase up to 1,000 items by 2010. They will be nurtured as a high nobility product brand that represents Korea by supporting in a lump from technology design development through overseas marketing, according to Chung.
Export product's high value-added needed
In connection with MOCIE's measures for the sake of component material industry's competitiveness reinforcement, Chung stresses: "Component material industry's nurturing is one of policies the government has been driving forward in priority since long time ago." He added that sound component materials industry is the core hinge for polarization solution, and the trade balance's red letters improvement.
In the meanwhile thanks to our corporations' spontaneous innovation efforts and the government's continuous support policy, component material trade black letters base is being settled, but because component and material are no more than 86% and 60% still when comparing technology level with advanced countries, it is true for Korea that staple end products' core component/material depend on overseas, he pointed out.
Therefore, the government wants to propel a Big-Jump technology development strategy in the interests of preoccupying the future market, escaping from simple catch-up oriented technology development plus fostering M&A activation circumstances so that component material companies' scale can be enlarged.
What's more, Minister Chung said: "To solve trade deficits against Japan fundamentally, the government plans to secure material source technology in the middle & long-term perspective plus supporting from the year 2007 50 core material technologies, whose future market preoccupation effect is big."
Chung especially committed himself to do its best continuously so that Korea can become as a global supply base to provide all over the world with component material.
Concern about long-term growth potential
As concerns Korea economic growth potential expansion plan such as corporate investment activation, Chung concedes: "It is true that concern about long-term growth potential decline is raised as our economy's potential growth rate remains at 4% level since the foreign exchange crisis."
Corporate investment dullness, he explained, is caused by diverse factors such as uncertainty increase, corporations' hazard evasion propensity, and corporate regulation which didn't reflect environment change.
Thereupon, the government will aggressively support investment activation through a good environment to do business, entrepreneur spirit boost, and the future profit model's presentation, Chung said.
Minister Chung, in particular, noted the fact that the Ministry has already presented on September 2006 over two hundred projects which are promising to invest by 2015 for the sake of the future profit model presentation.
On top of that, MOCIE will devote energies to reducing economic uncertainty and to recovering corporation's investment mentality in New Year 2007, he committed.
In regard to export outlook in the year 2007, Minister Chung diagnoses: "There seems to be a possibility the 2007's export circumstance will become slightly difficult in comparison with the year 2006 such as world economy growth and exchange rate."
Despite the sluggish growth of the world economy, he forecasts that the 2007's exports are expected to post twodigit increase pace, 10 to 11%, thanks to inroads into rapidly growing developing country markets and the favorite key export product's export including semiconductors, shipping and automobiles.
As regarding MOCIE's measures for export support of smaller export companies, Chung epitomizes: "The Ministry will prevent profit aggravation through systematic exchange risk control system construction, marketing support intensification for export region diversification and export finance support plus supporting smaller companies so that they may secure technology competitiveness and differentiate product in the middle & long-term."
In closing, Minister Chung assessed: "What Korea accomplished export $300 billion in the year 2006 despite difficult export circumstances such as won's strength, high oil price and the other rising raw material prices, is the outcome of diverse policy efforts from the government and the private for export increase."
