Thanks to the "FTA"... "Earned More Despite COVID-19"

Yoo Myung-hee, Chief Trade Negotiator, Visits Wonbong Water Purification Company in Magok, Seoul
Thanks to FTA Support Policies, Q1 Exports Increased by 29% Year-on-Year

Yoo Myung-hee, Chief Trade Negotiator of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. / Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Thanks to the government's Free Trade Agreement (FTA) utilization support project, some companies have increased their export volume despite the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing attention.

Yoo Myung-hee, Chief Negotiator of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, visited Wonbong, a water purifier and hot-cold water dispenser company located in Magok, Gangseo-gu, Seoul, on the 17th.

Wonbong recently expanded its business into the clean home appliances sector, including air purifiers and electrolyzed water generators. The clean home appliances sector is one of the industries supported under the government's "7 Major Export Promising Products" export package.

With government support, Wonbong demonstrated strong performance by increasing its export volume in the first quarter by 29% compared to the previous year (18.7 billion KRW).

Thanks to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's FTA utilization support project, Wonbong was able to obtain certified exporter status for specific items under the Korea-European Union (EU) and Korea-ASEAN FTAs for hot-cold water dispensers and water purifiers in 2018, and for air purifiers this year.

Exporters certified by customs authorities as having FTA origin management capabilities benefit from simplified documentation requirements for issuing certificates of origin.

They also received preferential tariff rates under the FTAs. The Korea-EU tariff on hot-cold water dispensers was reduced from 2.2% to 0% (agreement tariff rate), and the Korea-ASEAN tariff was lowered from 10-30% to 0-5%.

The Korea-EU tariff on water purifiers, parts, and air purifiers dropped from 1.7% to 0%, and the Korea-ASEAN tariff decreased from 5% to 0%.

Thanks to this, Wonbong's first-quarter export volume of air purifiers increased by 170% year-on-year, reaching 1,006 units.

Kim Young-don, Chairman of Wonbong, stated, "We plan to actively utilize FTAs to secure export competitiveness and expand exports going forward."

Chief Negotiator Yoo said, "Currently, export conditions are unfavorable due to COVID-19. The government is actively supporting the expansion of exports by Korean companies through measures such as expanding export financing, operating non-face-to-face export support systems like video consultations, and supporting the export package for the '7 Major Promising Products.'"

He added, "We hope that export companies will continue to maximize the use of FTAs to pioneer overseas markets and increase exports."

Currently, South Korea has signed 16 FTAs (based on those in effect) with 56 countries.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.