S. Korea's brand power gaining on advanced industrialized countries: poll

SEOUL, Jan. 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's national brand power has made steady gains versus the United States, Japan and Germany, boosted over the past few years by higher-quality goods, a poll conducted by a state-run trade promotion agency said Wednesday.

The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) said this month's poll of
large overseas buyers showed the gap between South Korea and the three countries
narrowing by an average of 5.2 percent from late 2006.
It also said that South Korea was able to widen its gap with China by 11.2 percent.
The report was compiled by setting the price of a South Korean-made product at
US$100 and asking buyers how much they would pay for a similar item made in the
U.S., Japan, Germany and China.
Buyers said they would pay $135.60 and $139.10 for the same item made in the U.S.
and Japan, and $149.40 for a German-made product.
This is a decrease from the $145.40, $148.60 and $153.40 that purchasers were
willing to pay in December 2006 for an item made in those three countries,
respectively.
For a comparable Chinese-made item, buyers said they would pay $69.20, down
sharply from the $77.90 tallied in the previous poll.
KOTRA said that drop in U.S. brand power is directly related to the financial
crisis, while problems with quality and safety hurt Chinese goods.
The agency added that locally made products got high marks from North American
and European buyers, but lost ground among traders from the Middle East and
Africa.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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