La South Korea it is the fourth economic power in Asia, just behind the giants Japan, China and India. First of the four Asian Tigers, not only in reference to economic importance, but also at a social and institutional level, South Korea is part of the new group of emerging countries of the world economy: the MISTs (Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea and Turkey). The economic structure is decidedly balanced, above all if one compares it with the other countries of the area. Indeed to one highly advanced manufacturing base (automotive and technology), a decidedly developed tertiary sector is added, mainly with regard to telecommunications and of infrastructure services; and a remarkable openness to international trade, with a exports contribute close to 50% of total GDP corresponds to a domestic market under development, driven by the policies of the Seoul government, with a purchasing power that places Korea in thirteenth place in the world.
Gross Domestic Product equals more than $1.700 trillion with consistently high growth rates (especially if compared with the numbers of the European Union and the United States), which have allowed the country not only to recover the ground lost during the crisis but to set a path of stable and robust growth.
The macroeconomic fundamentals photograph the situation of a country in full health, in fact, in addition to the constantly growing GDP, the data relating to the unemployment, equal to 3%, the public debt which stands at 38% of GDP and inflation with values ranging between 1% and 2%. These data, together with political stability and an efficient judicial system, mean that Korea stands at number 6 in the Doing Business ranking drawn up annually by the World Bank (to have a yardstick for comparison, our country occupies sixty-fifth place).
The most important sector of the South Korean economic system is manufacturing. However, within this sector there are a multitude of segments in which Korea represents one of the excellences worldwide, fromautomotive to the tech and from motorboating atmining industry.
Despite the decidedly positive economic picture, a perennial sword of Damocles hangs over South Korea, represented by its neighbor in the North. Relations between the two countries, in fact, undergo sudden changes of course which could threaten the security, not only economic, of the peninsula and also discourage investments from other countries.
Italy-CdS commercial relations
The importance of relations between Italy and South Korea is reflected in the data relating to trade, which sees one almost uninterrupted growth in the last 10 years. The balance between the two countries leans on Italy's side thanks to the sustained growth of our exports to the North-East Asian peninsula. The key sectors of Italian exports to South Korea are mainly represented by the spearheads of Made in Italy; machinery (grown by +6,4% year-on-year) , leather goods and agri-food alone account for almost half of total exports. Sectors such as: mineral oils and fuels (+ 110%), wines and drinks (+ 20,8%) and pharmaceutical products (+ 4.6%).
But the exchange is not limited to this alone, in fact sectors such as theenergy-environmental andaerospace. There are not a few i bilateral scientific collaboration projects between Italian and Korean companies in robotics, renewable energies, avionics and defense and security systems (a crucial issue in Korean politics).
The launch of these collaborations should be able to stimulate the development of cross-over foreign direct investments between the two countries to allow for a qualitative leap in the commercial relations between the two countries. According to the latest available data, in fact, the Italian foreign direct investments in Korea are around 7,5 million dollars, while investments from the Asian tiger to our country amount to just under 13 million dollars. These data demonstrate that there is much room for maneuver to expand investment flows, especially for the possibility of exploiting potential synergies between the two countries. Indeed, Italy and South Korea have a fairly similar production structure with a strong manufacturing base and a strong propensity for exports.
In addition to this, the geographical position makes the two countries potential commercial hubs for their respective areas, North-East Asia for Korea and the Mediterranean area for Italy. For this reason, the exchange of know-how in the logistics and transport sectors would bring mutual benefit to the two countries which would allow them to make the most of their strategic positioning.
For further information on the conditions of insurability for Italian companies, it is possible to consult the Sace Country File. While to consult the activities on the calendar, the missions and the Italian presence in South Korea, the page that the ICE Agency dedicates to the country can be reached at this link.
