[Amazing Korea] Korea to Boost Economic Cooperation with Iran

Korea to Boost Economic Cooperation with Iran

 

  

The Ministries of Trade, Industry & Energy, Strategy & Finance and Land, Infrastructure & Transport announced on Jan. 21 that they voted for a plan for the promotion of business in Iran so that joint-stock automobile companies can be established in Iran and cooperation projects can be launched in the shipbuilding and port industries of the country where economic sanctions were recently lifted.

The plan includes financing assistance for more plant construction orders from Iran, cooperation in production by means of a complete knockdown and the like, and collaborations between the Korean and Iranian governments. In the automobile industry, joint-stock companies are to be set up and models are to be developed with Iranian manufacturers. At the same time, business conferences and forums are held so that more Korean medical equipment and agricultural machinery manufacturers can find opportunities in the Middle Eastern country.

Iran’s feasibility studies regarding port development are to be supported by Korea and IR sessions are organized as well. Furthermore, the cooperation between the two countries is expected to the take the form of the resumption of ICT cooperation committee activities, assistance for the penetration of the halal food market, a customs mutual assistance agreement, and other projects. Business agreements are to be scheduled with regards to healthcare policy, hospital design and medical system coordination, too.


Export factoring and forfeiting are to be utilized for the export of more products, while a framework agreement worth 5 billion euros (US$5.4 billion) will be concluded for financial assistance in the fields of hospital establishment, power generation and so on. Also, a dollar-covering settlement system will be introduced, while Korean banks are allowed to set up branches in Iran.


SOURCE : http://www.businesskorea.co.kr/english/news/money/13653-business-promotion-iran-korea-boost-economic-cooperation-iran

[Amazing Korea] S. Korea leads global R&D spending: OECD

S. Korea leads global R&D spending: OECD 

 

 

 South Korea boasts one of the world's leading infrastructures for science development, with its spending on research and development (R&D) far higher than those of other countries, a Paris-based organization for economic cooperation said Monday.

  The country's expenditure on R&D came to 4.15 percent of its gross domestic product in 2013, hovering above its members' average of 2.4 percent, according to the OECD Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard. It marked a two-fold growth from the 2.2 percent posted in 1995. The country spent 59 trillion won (US$52.7 billion) in conducting R&D activities in 2013, up 3.8 trillion won from a year earlier. The figure includes figures from both the public and private sectors.

  Israel, meanwhile, was the top-slot country by spending 4.21 percent of its GDP on R&D over the cited period, it said. The OECD report added South Korea boasted leadership in 11 of top 20 fast-growing technology segments, or "disruptive technologies," including the human interface for digital data transfer, which allows users to activate devices through voice or other non-traditional methods. Other key achievements of South Korea included its patents in the IoT and big-data segments. The country accounted for 14.1 percent of the global patents in the fields over the 2010-2012 period, it said.

"Korea's lead is built upon strong education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines, with the highest percentage of tertiary graduates in natural sciences and engineering in the OECD area," the organization said.

  The OECD, meanwhile, said South Korea still needs to make more efforts in improving the availability of the Internet for the elderly. While the organization estimated 80 percent of South Koreans were online on the back of the rising penetration of smartphones, the access to the Internet for those aged 55 and above hovered below the average of the OECD. The OECD also cited South Korea's creative economy policy as one of the significant global approaches to innovations.

 The creative economy calls for merging various industry segments to generate new growth engines, which usually focus on utilizing the ICT for different segments.

  The announcement came in line with the OECD Ministerial Meeting Daejeon 2015, World Science & Technology Forum that runs from Monday through Friday in Daejeon, a city packed with science institutes located 164 kilometers south of Seoul.

  

 

Source :http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2015/10/19/0501000000AEN20151019007800320.html

 

 

[Amazing Korea] Korea’s ICT Industry Reached Record-high Trade Surplus Last Month

Excess of Export Korea’s ICT Industry Reached Record-high Trade Surplus Last Month

 

 

 

 

 The Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning announced on Oct. 13 that Korea’s ICT exports increased by 1.6 percent year-on-year last month to US$15.9 billion, the highest level since the beginning of this year. It added that the country’s ICT imports for Sept. increased by 1.4 percent from a year ago to US$7.77 billion, and the trade surplus reached a new high.

 Korea showed positive export growth in the ICT industry for two months in a row in spite of market research firm Gartner’s prediction that the global ICT market is likely to shrink by 4.9 percent this year and the fact that overall exports from Korea posted a decrease of 8.3 percent last month.

 The remarkable performance was led by digital TV suppliers as well as mobile phone and semiconductor exporters. Digital TV and component exports, which continued to fall year-on-year during the first eight months of this year, recorded an increase of 9.3 percent to US$610 million in Sept., while mobile phone and semiconductor exports rose 34.1 percent and 0.8 percent to US$2.83 billion and US$5.86 billion, respectively.

 On the contrary, the exports of display products declined 14.5 percent to US$2.68 billion, and those of computers and auxiliary equipment fell 9.0 percent to US$600 million during the same period.



SOURCE : http://www.businesskorea.co.kr/news/money/12470-excess-export-korea%E2%80%99s-ict-industry-reached-record-high-trade-surplus-last-month#sthash.mWFwTWtx.dpuf

[Amazing Korea] South Korean-designed SMART Reactors to be Built in Saudi Arabia for First Time

South Korean-designed SMART Reactors to be Built in Saudi Arabia for First Time

 

 

 

    A diagram of a System Integrated Modular Advanced Reactor. 

 

 

 

 South Korea’s efforts to export its domestically-designed small nuclear power reactors have borne fruit.  The Ministry of Science, ICT, & Future Planning (MSIP) announced on Sept. 2 that the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), designer of the System-integrated Modular Advanced Reactor (SMART), has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy in Saudi Arabia to conduct the Pre-Project Engineering (PPE) program before constructing SMART reactors. This is the first project of the “SMART Partnership MOU,” which was signed at the time when President Park Guen-hye made a tour to the Middle East in March.

 

  Under the agreement, the two countries will jointly conduct a preliminary study to review the feasibility of constructing SMART reactors, build two SMART reactors in Saudi Arabia, push ahead with the additional construction, and cooperate on the commercialization and promotion of the SMART reactor to third parties. Once the construction is completed, as agreed, SMART reactors, which have been developed with a large budget from 1997, will be exported for the first time in 20 years. Park Jae-moon, head of the Office of R&D Policy at the MSIP, said, “Starting from Dec. this year, the two countries will carry out the PPE project for 39 months, and make the preliminary safety analysis report. If Saudi Arabia finally decides to build SMART reactors after three years, we will submit the report and get the approval for construction.”

 

  As the agreement stated, Korea and Saudi Arabia will make the joint investment of a total US$100 million (118.4 billion won) – US$30 million (35.52 billion won) each year for three years.

 

  Park said, “Saudi Arabia will supply 20 percent of the nation’s electric power from nuclear power plants, and 15 to 20 percent of them from small nuclear power reactors by 2040. Since we have recently decided on the possible site and focused on training researchers in the related sectors, the final export is more likely to happen.”

 

  Considering the fact that the possible SMART reactors construction site is inland, the MSIP and KAERI will introduce an air cooling system, which is different from the existing water cooling system that is authorized as the standard design.



Source : http://www.businesskorea.co.kr/article/11917/news-south-korean-designed-smart-reactors-be-built-saudi-arabia-first-time#sthash.kvDpNmSM.dpuf

[Amazing Korea] Korea rises to No.6 exporter

Korea rises to No.6 exporter

 

 

 

 

 South Korea was the sixth-largest exporting nation accounting for 3.1 percent of total world exports in 2014, data showed Monday.

 

According to a special edition published by Statistics Korea to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Liberation Day, Korea’s exports increased from $25 million in 1956 to $572.7 billion in 2014.

 

The nation recently overtook France in export volume, but continued to lag behind China, the U.S., Germany, Japan and the Netherlands.

 

Korea ranked eighth in trade volume -- both exports and imports -- with $1.09 trillion in 2014. The country accounted for 2.9 percent of the world’s total trade.

 

But its high trade dependence also leaves the export-driven country vulnerable to the volatility of global economic factors such as the situation in its export destinations and geopolitical risks among its raw material trade partners. Korea saw its degree of trade dependence surge to 99.5 percent in 2014, compared to 15.2 percent in 1956.

 

The data also showed that the Korean economy has expanded about 31,000-fold since the Korean War (1950-1953). Its gross domestic product, which stood at 47.7 billion won ($44.7 million) in 1953, increased to 1.48 quadrillion won in 2014. Its per capita gross national income increased from $67 to $28,180 in the same period.

 

At 10th place in 2005, its GDP ranking has now been overtaken by countries such as Brazil (No. 7), India (No. 9) and Russia (No. 10).

 

Women’s participation in economic activities has also gradually increased over the past few decades. The female labor force participation rate which was 37 percent in 1963, climbed to 51.1 percent in 2014. The employment rate of women also rose from 34.3 percent to 49.5 percent over the same period.

 

In particular, the proportion of women among the total employed has continued to increase -- 34.8 percent in 1963, 38.2 percent in 1980, 40.8 percent in 1990, 41.4 percent in 2000 and 42 percent in 2014.

 

Consumer prices posted a 36-fold increase between 1965 and 2014, which indicates that a product priced at 10,000 won in 1965 would have been worth 360,000 won last year.

 

South Korea’s population, which surpassed 51.4 million this year, ranked 26th in the world and 13th in Asia as of 2010.

 

“But its population is projected to decrease to 43.96 million in 2060 after peaking at 52.16 million in 2030,” said the office.

 

 

SOURCE : http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20150810001066