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Trade News
S.KOREA'S COSMETICS
EXPORTS TO EUROPE
JUMP TENFOLD IN 7 YRS
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Exports of South Korean beauty and
cosmetics products to Europe have
expanded by tenfold over the past seven
years, largely driven by surging demand
for locally made facial care and makeup
items, according to a report published by
KOTRA.
The outbound shipments of Korean
beauty products to Europe reached EUR
92.5 million (USD 98.6 million) last
year, compared with EUR 9.2 million
(USD 9.8 million) tallied for 2009.
South Korea's share in the European
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cosmetics market jumped to 3.02 percent
from 0.54 percent over the cited years,
placing the country as the sixth-biggest
export partner for the region, the report
said.
France showed strong demand for
Korean skincare products that come in a
wider range for different skin types, while
Germany was one of the biggest buyers of
makeup base creams, known as BB or CC
creams that tout long-lasting coverage.
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S.KOREA AND
MALAYSIA AGREE TO
ACCELERATE TRADE
NEGOTIATIONS
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South Korea and Malaysia’s trade ministers
have agreed to speed up the negotiations
on the Korea-ASEAN FTA and
the Regional Comprehensive Economic
Partnership (RCEP) during a meeting
held on April 14 in Seoul.
Given that an additional round of negotiations
on trade liberalization was officially
agreed upon at the economic ministerial
meeting held last August, Korean
Trade Minister Joo Hyunghwan asked his
Malaysian counterpart Dato’ Sri Mustapa
bin Mohamed for enhanced cooperation
to make progress on this issue.
The two leaders also saw eye to eye
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on the need for accelerated RCEP negotiations
to boost trade and investment in the
Asia-Pacific region amidst rising protectionism.
In particular, they shared common
views on the importance of exchanging
follow-up concessions regarding goods
and services among all RCEP member
states so that negotiations on market
access are facilitated in the upcoming
RCEP meeting in May. Additionally, the
two governments will work together to
reach a final agreement to allow the
access to the goods, services and investment
markets in sensitive areas.
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Government & Policy
GOV'T TO NURTURE
MANPOWER IN BIO
INDUSTRY
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South Korea is set to release a set of
support measures, including nurturing
talented manpower, to help local pharmaceutical
companies make further inroads
into the global market, said Health
Minister Chung Chin-yeob on April 11.
The remarks were made during the
opening ceremony of biopharmaceutical
firm Celltrion Inc.'s new plant. He added
that the ministry is currently mapping out
long-term measures and fine-tuning
details after getting input from experts.
The measures will be announced by
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end of year.
The Korean government has been
making efforts to nurture the bio sector,
which is viewed as the nation's next
growth engine after IT. South Korea aims
to become a global biotech and medical
industry hub going forward.
According to government data, the
number of people working in the industry
jumped to 760,000 in 2015 from 620,000
in 2011. The government forecast that
940,000 new jobs will be created by
2020 in the industry.
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GOV'T ANNOUNCES
SUPPORT MEASURES
FOR STARTUPS
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On April 5, South Korea announced a
set of measures to nurture startups and
venture firms in the science and technology
sectors to secure new growth engines
and to eventually create more jobs for the
country's young people.
Under the comprehensive plan
announced by the Ministry of Science,
ICT and Future Planning, the government
will assist young entrepreneurs from startups
to gain access to the global market.
First, the government will establish a
KRW 3 trillion (USD 2.7 billion) fund to
help young job seekers launch 50,000
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new startups. The fund will focus on
establishing infrastructure for basic sciences,
promote new-growth sectors and
assist venture firms.
The ministry also said it will allow big
conglomerates to make further investment
into the startups by easing regulations. In
addition, it will help international entrepreneurs
from across the world pitch their
business ideas in South Korea. Last year,
the ministry hosted the accelerator program
K-Startup Grand Challenge, the first
of its kind, to help foreign startups begin
their businesses here.