Korea Aims to Rank Number 5 in International Competi tiveness by 2010

On May 8th the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (MOMAF) repo
rted to the President innovative topics for the new millenium which ma
inly consisted of the maritime affairs and fisheries attempts at growt
h via "Maritime Korea 21", the formation of logistic centers in North
East Asia and so on. MOMAF regarded this year, 2000, as the first year
of "Maritime Korea 21" and aims to propel businesses to raise Korea t
o be the fifth most competitive country in the international maritime
market. The maritime industry's share in the domestic economy will als
o hold 8.6 percent of GDP (Gross Domestic Product), up from 7.0 percen
t, and capacity for port containers will be 19,500,000 teus (twenty fo
ot equivalent units) up from 5,500,000 teus. They also proposed boosti
ng maritime earnings from 10 billion won to 30 billion won.
MOMAF also promised to focus on building logistics centers in North Ea
st Asia. Among neighboring countries' keen competition in port service
, the ports of Hong Kong and Singapore provide Korean with stiff compe
tition, occupying the No 1. and 2 positions in amount of cargo handle
d. The Port of Pusan shifted to No.4 from the eternal No. 5 position l
ast year. The ports of Shanghai and Kelang emerged as No. 7 and No. 14
, respectively.
They revealed, however, that investments in ocean-going cargoes, ocean
carriers and port facilities were concentrated on the larger sized po
rts, which aim encourage further investments in port SOC.