Tuesday, March 09, 2004

HUB OF NORTHEAST ASIA? The total volume of trade of China, Japan and South Korea topped $2 trillion in 2003 (that's 15% of the world's trade). Of the three, South Korea is, for obvious demographic reasons if nothing else, firmly in third place:
China, the world's fastest growing economy, ha's driven the rapid hike in Korea-Japan-China trade. China's trade rose by 37.1% to stand at US$851 billion in 2003 over the previous year, overtaking Japan. The total of Japan's imports and exports rose by 12.7% to US$849 billion in the same period. Korea's trade volume reached US$373 billion last year, up from US$315 billion in 2002.
This is all well and good. But why exactly do established economic power Japan and up and coming economic power China need Korea to serve as a "hub"? What's in it for them, especially considering that they seem to be doing quite well (in terms of foreign trade at least) without all of the critical hub infrastructure in place?

Perhaps it is because South Koreans have lots of websites and a "corporate e-business mindset" unparalleled in the world:
In 2003, Korea ranked first in the world in its corporate e-business mindset and in the website ownership rate of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), while placing sixth in information and communication technology (ICT) utilization level.
I'm still not clear on exactly how this helps though.


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