S. Korea targets fast emerging markets to fuel exports in 2010

SEOUL, Dec. 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korea aims to export US$410 billion worth of
goods in 2010 by expanding its presence in large, fast emerging markets, the
government said Monday.

The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said increasing outbound shipments to emerging
"middle" economies such as China, India and Indonesia are vital because these
countries have a combined population of over 3 billion and are expected to pull
off solid growth in the coming years.
In a policy report made to President Lee Myung-bak, the ministry said that such
markets require the production of high quality goods that meet local consumer
demand and have good price competitiveness.
The Chinese economy may rise an average 8.2 percent in the 2008-2020 period, with
Indian and Indonesian growth to exceed those of mature, industrialized countries.
"These countries have three times the population of the Group of Seven
industrialized economies whose consumption has remained stagnant," Vice Minister
Rim Che-min said. He said that if South Korea can increase market presence in
emerging countries, its exports may rise by $47 billion from around $363 billion
in 2009. The country's trade surplus could reach $20 billion in the new year.
"We will put emphasis on the establishment of market specific strategies to make
inroads into these economies," the official said.
The senior official also said that in order for South Korea's economy to grow 5
percent next year, the government should give more support to the semiconductor,
automobile and mobile phone sectors through research and development of
next-generation memory chips, electric vehicles and smart phones.
South Korea will start building prototypes of electric-powered cars in 2010 so
full-scale production can begin the following year, while production and research
is to be conducted on such devices as phase-change random access memory,
resistance random-access memory and spin transfer torque-magnetic random access
memory.
Seoul, in addition, will lend itself to enhancing the growth of nuclear power
generation, defense, industrial plants and the aerospace arena, while in the
mid-term investments from the private sector will be sought for robotics, light
emitting diodes and broadcasting convergence.
In the energy sector, South Korea will strive to raise its self-sufficiency in
oil and gas to 10 percent of local demand in 2010 from 8.1 percent at present,
while trying to secure an export order for a commercial nuclear reactor.
Seoul will also seek to increase the country's self-sufficiency rate for uranium,
coal, steel, copper, zinc and nickel to 27 percent from the 25.1 percent tallied
for this year.
On meeting the country's greenhouse gas reduction plan, the ministry said it will
introduce an "energy management" regime for 46 large businesses that use over
500,000 tons of oil equivalent (TOE) electricity per year. In 2011, the
government will expand its monitoring to cover businesses that use up more than
50,000 TOEs of energy.
The ministry added that starting in the new year Seoul will introduce laws to
open a greenhouse gas market and provide benefits to companies that invest in
energy efficiency.
In November, the government said it would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30
percent from the business as usual level by 2020 compared to 2005.
The ministry, meanwhile, said it will help local companies participate in the
upcoming Shanghai Expo and support preparations for the summit of the Group of 20
major and emerging economies to be hosted by South Korea next year.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
(END)