Government to Deploy Additional Ships to Resolve Logistics Crisis... Expansion of Trade Finance Support

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] The government will expand the supply of ships and cargo planes to support export-import companies facing difficulties due to rising freight rates and securing transportation means. It will also increase the scale of policy financial support to alleviate the burden of rising raw material prices.

On the 27th, the government held the '5th Expanded Trade Strategy Coordination Meeting' chaired by Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum at the Trade Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, to discuss measures to resolve difficulties in the export field. The meeting was held to maintain the momentum of export expansion that drove the record shortest annual trade volume of 1 trillion dollars and to discuss countermeasures in line with global trade paradigm changes.

First, to solve the 'three major field difficulties' of logistics, raw material prices, and parts supply, the government plans to deploy at least 23 additional ships by the end of the year and increase cargo plane operations on the trans-Pacific route to 10,000 flights next year. It secured an additional budget of 14.2 billion KRW to provide logistics vouchers to export companies and support logistics-challenged companies with policy financing worth 150 billion KRW.

To ease the burden caused by raw material prices, the government will provide tariff allocation support for recently soaring liquefied natural gas (LNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and crude oil, and expand support for raw material purchase funds to 550 billion KRW next year.

Additionally, to secure automotive semiconductor supply, the government requested cooperation from major semiconductor companies to expand supply and will strengthen supply chain management for key parts to closely manage major difficulties such as 'logistics, raw material prices, and parts supply.'

For new growth industries such as bio, agricultural and marine food products, content, and secondary batteries, the government will provide customized support to establish a future trade foundation.

Furthermore, the government will implement measures to expand the export base, including opening dedicated pavilions connecting domestic SMEs and global companies, marketing support through the advancement of public platforms, and discovering 1,300 promising small business owners next year to support exports. In addition, as part of future trade strategy, it will build supply chain cooperation systems with major countries focusing on core items such as semiconductors to strengthen response capabilities to supply chain risks and promote a shift to value-oriented trade such as environmental and labor considerations in line with global paradigm changes.

Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Moon Seung-wook said, "We will actively nurture trade talents so that more small and venture companies can boldly enter overseas markets, and proactively respond to discussions on global trade norms such as the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) to enable our companies to operate more smoothly in the changed trade environment."

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