High Oil Prices Affect Spending
KCCI survey on consumer shows reductions in spending due to high oil prices
The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) conducted a survey of 500 consumers in the Seoul area on "Changes in Consumption Patterns in the Age of High Oil Prices,"and 78.2 percent of the respondents said their household expenses have increased due to high oil prices. Only 2 percent said their household expenses have not increased with 19.8 percent saying they don? know.
The survey also found that 73.1 percent of those who earn more than 5 million won in monthly income, said their financial burden has increased with 85 percent of those who make less than 1 million won in monthly income, said their financial expenses increased.
On cutting expenses, 39.5 percent said they will cut energy expenses both heating and air conditioning with 24.2 percent saying they will reduce dining out expenses. About 12.8 percent said they will buy less clothes.
The survey also found out the spending pattern has changed in many ways due to high oil prices. About 83.2 percent of households check energy use when buying goods requiring energy. About 79.2 percent said they will think about fuel expenses when buying an automobile. Some 81.8 percent of the households said they put off buying some household necessities to pay for energy bills with 75 percent saying that they bought household necessities in lumps to save costs. About 82.8 percent said they will drive less to save energy costs with 76.8 percent saying that they will go out less. Most income brackets make sure that lights are out when they go out of their homes.
The monthly shopping number has been cut 13.7 times on average this year from 15.2 times last year. The number of shopping trips using a car has been reduced to 1.5 times monthly, down 0.5 time from last year KCCI officials said business firms should develop economic goods as consumers prefer to buy inexpensive goods due to high oil prices and thinner wallets.

KCCI Survey on Environmental Regulations in China

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) surveyed 300 largest firms engaged in trade with China on "Measures to Cope with China Trading Environmental Regulations"and found out that 65 percent of those firms were unaware of the regulations in detail. KCCI is certain that they would encounter difficulties with selling goods to China because of their lack of information on such matters (36.6 percent), the lack of professional manpower (29 percent), and the lack of funds (23 percent). KCCI said the best way to cope with the situation would be to use environmentally-friendly raw materials (27.6 percent), and the development of environmentally-friendly products (24.7 percent). They also noted obtaining environmental mark and others including ISO certificates (12.3 percent), improving production process or creating environment-friendly production process(11.7 percent), getting assistance from mother firms(11.2 percent), strengthening expert staff(9 percent) and the diversification of customer firms(3.5 percent). nw