KTNET, E-Trade Pioneer

Constant upgrading to maintain competitiveness

E-trade is shifting the global trade paradigm in the 21st century. Korea Trade Network (KTNET) is a pioneer of the new e-trade frontier, playing an essential role in paperless trade, seamless integration and trade competition.
KTNET does not rest on its laurels. It plans to work out mid- and long-term plans to upgrade Korea's e-trade infrastructure. KTNET President Shin Dong-sik said, "Korea boasts one of the world's best e-trade infrastructures, but it needs to keep on upgrading to maintain the upper hand."To this end, he said KTNET is going to work out a 10-year e-trade roadmap.
KTNET President Shin unveiled four management plans, including the one on e-trade roadmap, during his first meeting with reporters at the World Trade Center in Samseong-dong, Seoul, after taking the helm at the company last June.
CEO Shin decided to develop a package customer support system designed to offer e-trade services ranging from membership to education, usage and post-management. It will come up with steps to strengthen customer satisfaction together with the operation of the Customer Satisfaction Committee.
KTNET is striving to explore new business areas other than e-trade services as part of its efforts to secure future growth engines with the goal of raising the non-e-trade sector's portion of sales to 30 percent by 2009.
CEO Shin said KTNET is putting more energy into raising public interests of e-trade. He said KTNET will do its utmost efforts to make Korea's e-trade the world's top brand.
He brushed aside some people's views that even though KTNET has greatly contributed to the development of Korea's e-trade, it is monopolistic.
CEO Shin emphasized the need for assigning to a few companies building up e-trade, a pan-national infrastructure designed to network trading companies and related organizations in a bid to minimize overlapping investments and prevent confusion and excessive competition. Under the system, concentrated investments may lead to improving specialization and efficiency, he noted.
Investments on e-trade, concentrating on KTNET might be mistaken as a kind of monopoly, but given the fact that e-trade constitutes a national trunk infrastructure and national major task of the future, he said, concentrated investments should be essential at an initial stage.
Some allegations over KTNET's monopoly reflect the fact that KTNET has been recognized in terms of experiences and technological power in diverse areas, said CEO Shin, adding that the controversies are likely to fade away as a revision of the Act on the Facilitation of E-Trade allows qualified additional e-trade infrastructure operation and specialized service providers.
Shin said his company will push ahead with the construction of an e-Trade Center in Pangyo, south of Seoul, an 8-story structure with four underground floors that will serve as a trade mecca. The projected e-Trade Center is to break ground next July with completion set for the first half of 2009.
Shin said his company plans to make strenuous efforts to return KTNET's proceeds to society. Social service activities KTNET conduct include rational pricing system, provision of field-oriented services, stable and efficient management of e-Trade systems, and campaigns to help the underprivileged and farming household as well as physically handicapped.
Since 1991 when KTNET began to purse trade automation through electronic data interchange, it has sought to simplify trade procedures, reduce trade-related costs, and increase trade productivity, all of which ultimately sharpen competitiveness for individual enterprises and the nation. Its goal of e-trade is to achieve globalization. KTNET is expanding e-trade networks across the six continents and five oceans to build a silk road of e-trade in 21st century.
Take a look into the chronology of the company. In November 1992, KTNET concluded a basic agreement with Korea Customers Service for building and operation of an EDI-type custom-clearance automation system. KCS is now recognized for having established one of the best custom clearance systems in the world. nw

KTNET CEO Shin Dong-sik, the 7th president of the trade corporation, plans to work out mid- and long-term plans to upgrade Korea's e-trade infrastructure.