"Companies Participating in FTA Utilization Projects Achieve 5% Annual Sales and 10% Export Growth"

Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy Discusses Achievements of FTA Utilization Support Policies

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] Companies that participated in the government’s Free Trade Agreement (FTA) utilization projects and received consulting support showed sales and export growth rates nearly 5% and 10 percentage points higher, respectively, than those that did not participate.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held a Utilization Subcommittee meeting of the Domestic Measures Committee on Trade Agreements on the 16th to discuss the performance of the government’s FTA utilization support policies, which included these findings. The government has been providing customized consulting for companies, distributing origin management systems, holding education and briefing sessions, and resolving issues through one-stop services via domestic and overseas FTA support institutions.

According to an evaluation by the Public Policy Performance Evaluation Institute on the FTA utilization support policies the government has supported over the past 10 years, the sales growth rate of 4,894 companies participating in the government’s FTA utilization projects from 2015 to 2019 averaged 11.6% annually, which is 4.3 percentage points higher than the 7.3% of 23,141 non-participating companies. The export growth rate was also higher at an average of 15.2% for participating companies, compared to 5.6% for non-participants, a difference of 9.6 percentage points.

The capabilities of companies receiving support from the government’s FTA utilization projects also improved significantly. Origin management capability increased from 57.3 points before participation to 79.3 points after participation. Non-tariff barrier response capability rose from 56.3 to 74.4 points during the same period, post-verification response capability improved from 57.2 to 76.6 points, and export and customs clearance capability increased from 62.7 to 79.3 points.

An official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy analyzed, “The government’s FTA utilization policies and project support have increased sales and exports of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies. They have also contributed to creating a virtuous cycle that enhances corporate competitiveness by expanding employment and research and development (R&D) investment.”

This year, the government will actively support SMEs and mid-sized companies with a budget of 11.9 billion KRW for FTA utilization support projects. Specifically, it plans to ▲ open overseas centers in the New Southern region and establish an RCEP support system within the FTA Comprehensive Support Center to expand FTA utilization infrastructure; ▲ conduct customized specialized consulting focused on regions and field sites, and set targets for regional target industries and export utilization rates; and ▲ advance and diversify the FTA utilization support system by introducing project and center performance evaluations and follow-up surveys.

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