A Task Force at MOCIE
To strengthen development of general
machinery industry as new growth engine
The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy has established a task force for Strengthening Competitiveness of General Machinery Industry to be headed by Deputy Commerce, Industry and Energy Minister Heo Bum-do. The task force held its first meeting on February 14.
The task force members include the ministry, research organizations like the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and Seoul National University,
The general machinery industry's exports totaled $22.1 billion last year, creating a surplus of $4.3 billion in machinery trade, turning the country into a machinery exporter from an importer. The deficit in machinery trade during 1978 and 1997 amounted to $94.6 billion, giving the industry a bad name. But things have turned completely around for the industry in recent years.
The ministry expects that if the industry is developed according to plans under support as a basic national foundation industry, by 2015 it would be able to mark a trade surplus of $20 billion and become a major export industry.
The deputy MOCIE minister Heo said that the industry has been neglected despite its importance to other key industries including semiconductors, display, automobile and others as a supplier of production facilities to those industries. He plans to give vitality to the industry including general machinery, semiconductor equipment, plant, molding, textile machinery and others through the task force to make the industry a key part of the export industry.
He said the task force will conduct a number of activities to promote the growth of the industry, including a survey on the production facilities in the country this month, a forum to vitalize the General Machinery Industry next month and participating in various overseas exhibitions and tour major machinery companies in advanced countries at the end of April. A detailed plan to further develop the industry will be made by benchmarking examples of advanced countries to foster their general machinery industries.
For reference, the government has been working to create a plan to spur the development of the general machinery industry as part of its strategy to revolutionize the manufacturing industry by using core technology and production facilities for parts and raw materials this year. The government plans to expand and diversify its support measures to the industry in the areas of technology development, building an industrial base, exploration of overseas markets, manpower training, and vitalizing SMEs, among others.
What the government wants to do to the industry boils down to turn the industry into a new growth engine to further escalate the development of domestic industries in the wake of the industry's break with its sluggish past and becoming a surplus industry. The industry has been able to turn itself into a surplus industry from 2004, getting rid of an enormous trade deficit that dogged it in the past. In 2005, the trade surplus amounted to $22.2 billion with a surplus of $4.3 billion.
The task force with the backing of MOCIE will draw up detailed plans and the implementation steps to spur the development of the industry. A consensus was reached at a meeting of related organizations presided over by the Prime Minister Coordination Office reconfirming the importance of the industry and the plans to further boost its growth.
The task force, made up of those from industry, academics, and research institutions, will try to come up with promotional measures for the general machinery industry, realistic and effective, reflecting all those opinions heard from job-sites on current issues facing the industry.
Its key responsibilities include drawing up strategies to make the industry competitive; studying how the corporate mergers work in advanced countries, especially in Germany and the management of manpower; conduct surveys on the management of general machinery industrial parks and the operation of those in advanced countries; and holding a forum on ways to vitalize the industry.
The task force plans to meet once a month in order to complete their duties and responsibilities. nw