Gwangju and Jeonnam Export Companies Expected to Continue Export Growth This Year

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] Export companies in Gwangju and Jeonnam are expected to continue their export growth this year following last year, according to a survey.

According to the 'Gwangju-Jeonnam Export Environment Outlook' announced on the 7th by the Korea International Trade Association Gwangju-Jeonnam Regional Headquarters, more than half of the 175 respondent companies, 98 companies (56.0%), answered that their exports would increase.

Regarding this year's export environment, more than 60% of companies expected it to be similar to or improved compared to the previous year.

The most positive factor for the export environment was the recovery of global demand (29.4%), followed by enhancement of their product competitiveness (26.0%) and expansion of online and offline overseas export marketing (21.1%).

On the other hand, the most cited negative factor was the rise in raw material prices (27.4%), followed by the continuation of COVID-19 (20.6%) and increased logistics costs and shortage of shipping space (20.0%).

Regarding current difficulties, the export industry responded that the biggest challenge was the continuation of COVID-19 (22.3%), followed by logistics difficulties (20.6%) and rising raw material prices (12.6%).

Most companies were aware of the impact these issues could have on their businesses, but it was found that they lacked measures to respond to changes in these issues and had low accessibility to specialized information, causing difficulties.

For export recovery, the most needed support from associations and related organizations was logistics cost support at 36.0%, identified as the top priority.

Cosmetics and daily necessities showed a high demand for online marketing support, while home appliances and electronics indicated a strong need for overseas buyer discovery, showing that support demands vary by industry.

Deputy Director Kang Sung-eun said, "Companies expressed expectations in the survey that exports will continue to grow this year," adding, "Although export companies have strong demands for logistics cost support, local support projects are concentrated on certain industries such as agricultural and marine products, or the logistics cost support budget is insufficient, so expanding the scope of support is necessary."

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