The government hosted a ceremony to commemorate the “Day of Trade” and showed determination to place Korea 

among the group of top five exporting countries

Korea’s exports expected to set a new record despite increasing trade deficit

Korea to become the world’s sixth largest exporter this year

An objective is set to have Korea’s global export ranking to be jumped by another notch next year

Businesspeople who made contributions to exports were recognized with awards

President Seok-yeol Yoon is giving Jong-hee Han, the CEO of Samsung Electronics, an ovation after conferring a $120 billion “Tower of Export” during a ceremony to commemorate the 59th anniversary of the Day of Trade, which was held on December 5th at COEX in southern Seoul.

The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy announced that a ceremony to commemorate the 59^th Day of Trade was held on the morning of December 5^th at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. By taking this year’s Day of Trade as an opportunity, the government made an announcement to pull out all the stops to place Korea to be one of five key global exporters. Korea’s exports in 2022 is expected to record an all-time high despite persistent risks, including mounting trade deficit and a decrease in exports, triggered by a slowdown in the global economy. As the country is projected to achieve a milestone during difficult times, the government will take a direction to strengthen Korea’s competitiveness in the exporting sector next year.

This year’s ceremony was held under the official slogan, which can be translated as “Strive for being a leading trading country! Keep up with the good spirit, Korea!” More than 1,000 guests took part in the ceremony, including President Seok-yeol Yoon, Chan-yang Lee, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Energy and Christopher Koo, the Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association. The ceremony was organized with a focus on congratulating a remarkable achievement the country made in terms of exports and paying tribute to businesspeople for their valuable contribution in supporting Korea to post the largest annual exports ever.

This year’s annual export is expected to set a new record to reach $690 billion, up from $644.4 billion posted last year. This is a hard-fought achievement despite looming uncertainties stemming from the war between Russia and Ukraine, interest rate hikes and China’s “Zero-Covid” policy. Additionally, Korea’s annual aggregate amount of trade this year crossed the $1 trillion threshold on September 14^th, which was achieved at a record-setting pace. This was attributable to a steep increase of exports during the first half of this year

Korea has also posted a relatively high increase in its exports - a 12.2% increase - compared to other nations that primarily export manufactured goods, including Japan, Germany and Italy. These countries have seen a sluggish increase in their exports throughout this year with posting a 0%, 1.8% and 7.7% growth in its exports respectively. This factor has placed Korea as the world’s sixth largest exporter with its global export ranking to jump a notch from seventh last year. Despite a satisfactory performance of Korea’s exports, an all-out effort is being required to address widening trade deficit triggered by a hike in energy prices along with signs of diminishing exports due to a slowdown in the global economy.

Being aware of the situation, the government plans to establish a dedicated platform aimed at supporting exports at every ministry and strengthen the capabilities of relevant institutions to support exports. The government will take additional firm actions to support exports, including a) early spending of the budget earmarked for projects to support exports during the first half of next year, b) seeking improvements to obstacles that exist in the field that exporting businesses need to face, c) engaging in action for an efficient use of energy geared towards saving on energy import costs and d) increasing the supply of alternative energy sources.

Long-term policies aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of the exporting industry are needed to place Korea among the group of top five global exporters. These policies include providing support for deregulation, the implementation of investment plans and expanding support for R&D, which will be introduced after holding discussions in “Export Strategy Meetings.” Ahead of taking part in the ceremony to commemorate this year’s Day of Trade, President Seok-yeol Yoon met with entrepreneurs who earned distinction for making notable contributions to Korea’s trade and CEOs of companies that received a “Tower of Export Award” for their excellent export performance. President Yoon took this opportunity to listen to obstacles faced by businesspeople engaged in the trading business sector.

President Yoon thanked the efforts exerted by these businesspeople and shared opinions on difficulties they face that demand immediate response and other issues that require assistance from the government. During the ceremony, the achievements of the government were showcased, which are fine examples of its efforts to promote exports. Those include a) signing an export deal to sell K2 tanks to Poland, b) securing a contract to build turbine island of the El-Dabaa nuclear power plant in Egypt and c) economic and diplomatic success of the Korea - Saudi Arabia summit meeting. After this session, a ceremony took place to confer awards to businesspeople engaged in the trading business for making significant contributions for boosting this year’s exports. A total of 597 awardees (including two institutions) were decorated with an order or recognized with a medal and a total of 1,780 exporting companies received a “Tower of Export Award” for their outstanding contributions made throughout this year.

Among 597 awardees, four awardees - two CEOs of SMEs, one representative and a high-ranking official of conglomerates respectively - were decorated with the most prestigious Gold Tower grade of the Order of Industrial Service Merit. Mr. Woo-gak Choi, the Chairman of Daesung Hi-Tech, Mr. Eun-sik Noh, the CEO of DK-Lok, Mr. Hak-gyu Park, the CFO of Samsung Electronics and Mr. Gyeong-oh Jeong, the CEO of Heesung PM Tech were decorated with the Gold Tower grade. The remaining 593 awardees were decorated with other grades of the Order of Industrial Service Merit, recognized with a Medal of Honor and were presented with a commendation conferred by the President, Prime Minister and the Minister of Industry, Trade and Energy. The “Tower of Export Award” was conferred to 27 conglomerates, 113 middle market enterprises and 1,640 SMEs. Samsung Electronics was recognized with a $120 billion “Tower of Export” for being the largest exporter this year. 86 companies, including EcoPro Innovation, were recognized with a $100 million “Tower of Export” for posting annual exports exceeding this amount for the first time.

[This news is provided by Newsis]