S. Korea`s IT, tech exports expected to rise on economic recovery: expert

By Lee Youkyung
SEOUL, Nov. 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's exports in the information and
technology and tech sectors are expected to rise sharply next year as a global
economic recovery would drive up corporate IT budgets, the head of a state-run
agency said Monday.
"The global economy is expected to make a gradual recovery next year, which will
lead an upward trend in IT spending," Lee Gam-yeol, vice president of the Korea
Electronics Association, told a group of business leaders at an IT conference
meeting in Seoul.
Lee forecast that South Korea's IT and tech exports will amount to US$133 billion
next year, up 11.1 percent from this year, with the annual industry production
expected to rise 7.7 percent from a year ago to 237 trillion won ($205.3 billion)
in 2009.
Some market experts, however, have been skeptical about the forecast. Steve
Ballmer, head of the U.S. computer software powerhouse Microsoft Corp., earlier
said a global economic downturn forced corporations to cut back on IT spending
and corporations would still maintain a tight IT budget in the coming years
regardless of the economic condition.
But the annual growth rate of the South Korean IT industry would top the average
rate of global markets, as South Korean IT firms, memory chipmakers and
electronics producers have the edge of technological advancement as well as a
favorable foreign exchange rate, according to Lee.
ylee@yna.co.kr
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