Korea Aims for Per Capita GDP $35,000 by 2015
Korea Aims for Per Capita GDP $35,000 by 2015
  • archivist
  • 승인 2005.10.01 12:01
  • 댓글 0
이 기사를 공유합니다

Global Industry Integrator Strategy unveiled by MOCIE Could Korea achieve its per capita GDP target of US$35,000 by 2015 as forecasted last month by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (MOCIE) during the Industrial Innovation Forum 2005 More fundamentally, MOCIE points out that with the recent growth level of 4 percent, Korea is still a long way off from joining the ranks of the advanced countries within 10 years, not to mention the possibility of a global GDP ranking decline. In other words, it will be difficult to break through the current GDP "trap" of US$10,000-20,000 level, given the recent growth potential of 4 percent. In this regard, MOCIE Minister Lee Hee-beom, said that there was an urgent need for coordination the nation's vision for industrial development, development strategy, and pan-national efforts to boost the potential growth rate by 1 percent and expanding of innovation capacity. He maintains that Korea can lead the global division of labor, accomplishing GDP 10th ranking globally, as well as reach the GDP US$35,000 level by 2015, with economic growth continuation of the upper half of 5 percent. In reality, in the compression growth as well as in the conquest process of the foreign exchange crisis, Korea made its way into a middle-speed growth era, recording 4.9 percent in terms of average economic growth rate (1995~2004) over the past 10 years. Global Industry Integrator Minister Lee said that industry, enterprises and the government have to concentrate their capacity on the interests of a vision accomplishment of "Global Industry Integrator," which facilitates a balanced development of the economy, moving away from the current pessimistic view. The four strategies referred to as the "Global Industry Integrator," which will complement and supplement deficiencies in the nation's industries include fusing new technologies from various industries, and encouraging local manufacturers of high-tech products like semiconductors, digital electronics and biotechnology devices to play a globally leading role within the specified areas in both developed and developing economies. Another involves promoting a creative environment for the auto and shipbuilding industries, two major contributors to the country's export-driven economy, to sustain their competitive edge. One method involves focusing on service and brand differentiation. The third calls for building infrastructure to provide competitive services, which include logistics and environment-friendliness. The fourth concerns adopting "soft services," such as cultural products unique to Korea, to boost exports. He explained that Korea was going through a pessimistic phase and people were experiencing feelings of uneasiness due to issues facing the entire industrial sector. The core reason for such negativity about Korean industry are Korea's manufacturing foundation loss crisis due to China's stronger manufacturing competitiveness, key industries' growth slowdown, as well as economic growth stagnation crisis due to other industries' value- added creation insufficiency and competition superiority decline, caught in a 'nutcracker' between China and Japan. However, MOCIE insists that Korea can find new opportunities on the back of such pessimism. For instance, increased investments into China are just a transfer of manufacturing function from the standpoint of value chain and this don't mean a fundamental loss of Korean manufacturing itself, a MOCIE official explained. With Korean manufacturing hollowing out into China, it should be understood that this is not a phenomenon being experienced by Korea alone, So, as the official pointed out, Korea should rather seize the opportunity to strengthen its manufacturing competitiveness by boosting other value chain functions such as design, branding and marketing. In the context of changing trends in the global environment affecting Korea, Minister Lee said that thanks to IT, BT, NT as well as fusion technology development, the parts/material industry value-added creation opportunities will be expanded and robots for households will become a reality. Accordingly, due to IT, BT, NT as well as fusion technology's development, new industries such as reproduction special industry will emerge, Lee predicted. Global technology leadership through selection & concentration To accomplish per capita GDP of $35,000 under the Global Industry Integrator vision which facilitates a balanced development of the global industry, it is pointed out that Korea should continuously secure global technology leadership through selection and concentration in the convergence industry as well as cutting-edge manufacturing. In particular, MOCIE pinpoints that to accomplish Korea industry's vision, the country should adopt a differentiated development strategy by industry spheres in connection with global positioning. To this end, Minister Lee insists that in the case of the convergence industry as well as cutting-edge manufacturing, Korea has to devise market control enlargement through global technology leadership as well as standard leading in spheres with high priority order. In particular, Korea should actively pursue opportunities as a parts/material supplier for the Chinese market. MOCIE predicted that employment of approximately 26.6 million people will be generated by 2015 by means of manufacturing innovation as well as service industry development and total value-added scale could reach as high as 160 trillion won (approx. US$1.5 trillion). However, it is pointed out that for Korean industry to accomplish its vision against the backdrop of changes in the global environment, Korean companies' to fulfill their industrial development role should nurture their capacity as innovators. Distinguished global scholars also who attended this Industrial Innovation Forum 2005, highlighted Korea's high dependence on a small number of large companies and the absence of a "selection and concentration" strategy regarding our economy. Alvin Toffler said that it is excessively high in terms of dependence degree on a small number of large exporting companies, adding that the Korean government needs to do more to promote smaller companies. Prof. Jeffrey Pfeffer, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, California, pointed to the vertical structure and hostile labor-management relations as Korean companies' most vulnerable point. In this respect, in order for Korean companies to develop, they should concentrate their energies on establishing solid labor-management relations while decentralizing authority and decision making, he advises. Notably, the professor stressed that labor and management have to develop mutual confidence through frequent contacts, with a common goal for the sake of solid industrial relations, pointing out that no company could compete successfully as long as there are any employees who are dissatisfied with their company, in a modern society in which intellectual capital is important.

댓글삭제
삭제한 댓글은 다시 복구할 수 없습니다.
그래도 삭제하시겠습니까?
댓글 0
댓글쓰기
계정을 선택하시면 로그인·계정인증을 통해
댓글을 남기실 수 있습니다.

  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT US
  • SIGN UP MEMBERSHIP
  • RSS
  • 2-D 678, National Assembly-daero, 36-gil, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, Korea (Postal code: 07257)
  • URL: www.koreaittimes.com | Editorial Div: 82-2-578- 0434 / 82-10-2442-9446 | North America Dept: 070-7008-0005 | Email: info@koreaittimes.com
  • Publisher and Editor in Chief: Monica Younsoo Chung | Chief Editorial Writer: Hyoung Joong Kim | Editor: Yeon Jin Jung
  • Juvenile Protection Manager: Choul Woong Yeon
  • Masthead: Korea IT Times. Copyright(C) Korea IT Times, All rights reserved.
ND소프트