South Korea's IT-export growthto surge [WSJ]
By YUN-HEE KIM
February 15, 2006; Page A6
South Korea is on track for double-digit growth in information-technology exports this year, with IT exports estimated to reach $88.3 billion, driven by robust demand for existing products like semiconductors as well as new services, the country's minister of information and communication said.
"Last year was tough and we saw growth slowing down, but this year we anticipate growth to pick up again," Daeje Chin said in an interview. "The weakness of the dollar [against the won] poses a risk and we worry about it, but we have observed already that regardless of the exchange rate, some products are still competitive," such as semiconductors and digital-media broadcasting, or DMB, cellphones.
Mr. Chin was in Hong Kong for a two-day visit ending yesterday. He met with Hong Kong's secretary for commerce, industry and technology, Joseph Wong, to discuss cooperation on IT issues.
In 2005, Korea's exports of IT goods rose 4.4% to $78 billion, from $74.7 billion in 2004.
IT exports account for more than a quarter of South Korea's total exports and the country is home to two of the world's biggest makers of memory chips, Samsung Electronics Co. and Hynix Semiconductor Inc. Samsung and LG Electronics Inc. are among the world's top five producers of mobile handsets.
The Ministry of Information and Communication forecasts that exports of semiconductors will rise 12.2% to $33.9 billion this year from 2005, while mobile handset shipments are expected to rise 11% to $27.3 billion. Separately, exports of liquid-crystal displays, or LCDs, widely used in personal computers and television sets, are expected to rise 29% to $9.65 billion.
Mr. Chin said South Korea can expect "big business" in the future from exporting wireless broadband Internet, or WiBro, technology. WiBro, a home-grown technology closely related to the mobile WiMAX technology, is a wireless high-speed data-communication service that is operational at speeds of as much as 120 kilometers an hour.
South Korea has plans to commercially launch the service within Korea in the first half of this year. KT Corp. and SK Telecom Co. have been selected as providers to begin the commercial services. |
