Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

'Korea Sale FESTA' begins on September 29

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on September 21 that 'Korea Sale FESTA', the country's biggest shopping  festival, will begin on Sept 29 and last until Oct 31. Together with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Trade, Industry and Energy Ministry has developed the annual national shopping and cultural festival for bargain-hungry Korean consumers and foreign visitors  since the beginning of this year with aims of boosting domestic consumption in slump an date2016-09-23

Vice Minister Lee hosts discussion session with shipbuilding industry

        date2016-07-04

Korea to Woo Int’l Shoppers with `FESTA’ Festival in Fall

Korea to Woo Int’l Shoppers with `FESTA’ Festival in Fall   The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced it would kick off the Korean version of ``Black Friday” festival under the name of the ``Korea Sale FESTA’’ for international shoppers between September 29 to October 31 with cooperation of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and other related public and private agencies.   The word ‘FESTA’ is formed by taking the initia date2016-06-21

National Shopping and Tourism Festival of “Shopping + Tourism + Korean Wave” to be Held

date2016-04-28

New MOTIE Minister Joo Hyunghwan Takes Office

    New Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Joo Hyunghwan, previously Vice Finance Minister, took office in Sejong yesterday, replacing Yoon Sang-jick who served in the top post for almost three years.   In his inauguration speech, the new minister pledged to innovate South Korea's industrial policies across the board to reinvigorate the country's economy amid slowing global growth.   After the inauguration ceremony, Minister Joo visited Hoong-A Corp., a local manufacturer of packaging machinery, as his first official outside activity.     date2016-01-14

Sales Trends by Major Retailers in November 2015

  □ The sales by major retailers, including those of department stores and convenience stores increased from a year earlier, while those of hypermarkets and super supermarkets fell in Nov. 2015. □ The sales of convenience stores have increased in large percentages for ten consecutive months since Feb. 2015. □By product group, the sales of food, commodities, and miscellaneous goods decreased for all major retailers except for convenience stores.   date2015-12-30

Automobile Industry Trends for November 2015

    □ The volume of South Korean automobile exports and production decreased by 3.5 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively, while domestic sales increased by 14.4 percent. This was attributed to reduced exports to emerging markets, reduction in individual consumption tax, the effect of new model releases, and strong sales of multi-purpose vehicles.   □ : Production decreased by 2.8 percent from a year earlier to 395,004 units despite an increase in domestic sales. This decrease was attributable to reduced export volume including Accent, Genesis, and Santa Fe and halt in production of diesel models, SM5 and QM5.   □ : Domestic sales increased by 14.4 percent from a year earlier to 165,570 units. This was attributable to strong sales of multi-purpose vehicles and launches of new models.   - Sales of imported cars increased by 28.0 percent from a year earlier to 26,100 units.   □ : Exports decreased by 3.5 percent from a year earlier to 263,687 units. This was mainly attributable to demand contraction in emerging markets such as Russia and Latin America.   date2015-12-30

Drone delivery to be made available to islands and mountain villages

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on December 16 that trial drone services for power & gas maintenance and deliveries to islands and mountain villages will be available starting next year.     These drone services were announced by the MOTIE on December 16, 2015 during the "Seminar on the Promotion of Drone Industry Demand" at the Federation of Korean Industries Conference Center.     A plan was introduced at the seminar to start two or three trial programs for monitoring, delivery, and rescue missions with a budget of KRW 1.5 billion ($1.33 million) and the goal of promoting drone demand.     The plan includes the establishment of infrastructure such as national flight performance test site in Goheung, Jeollanam-do and rationalization of regulations and procedures.     It also includes support for the development of high-efficiency drones such as customized drones and low-cost flight control systems.     At the seminar, Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) shared the results of drone inspection of steel towers, telephone poles, and other power systems that are physically difficult to access by service staff. It also introduced a plan for the further application of drones.     Seoul City Gas introduced a plan to use drones to check for leaks from gas pipes installed on high-rise buildings and bridges that are difficult to maintain, including damages to gas pipes caused by road construction.     Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) announced that it will develop and test systems for the application of drones in delivering goods to remote regions, such as islands and mountain villages, starting next year.     * Short version date2015-12-16

Participants of K-Sale Day enjoy sales increase

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on December 15 that major participants of K-Sale Day, a large-scale shopping event from November 20 to December 13, enjoyed an 8.4 percent increase in their sales compared to the same period last year.     The K-Sale Day was held from November 20 to December 15 with the participation of a total of 102 companies, 500 traditional marketplaces and 371 small and medium size manufacturers.     Among them, department stores have achieved a 7.8 percent increase in sales despite the slow sales growth they have experienced over the years. Department stores saw 5.4 percent sales increase in 2012, 2.6 percent increase in 2013 and 1.6 percent decrease in 2014.     During the K-Sale Day event, online shopping malls enjoyed a 10.4 percent sales increase compared to the same period of the previous year, or over 7 percent annual sales increase.     Supermarkets' daily necessity sales rose only by 2.8 percent, but the increase resulted in bringing positive effects. Last year, supermarkets' annual sales dropped by 2.2 percent.     As for convenience stores, their sales rose by 23.6 percent, most of which is due to the increased cigarette prices     * Short version date2015-12-15

A roadmap for smart manufacturing R&D to be announced

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning announced on December 10 that a mid- to long-term roadmap to provide strategic support for smart manufacturing technologies for smart sensors, CPS, 3D printing, energy saving, IoT, cloud, big data and hologram.     These are the eight core technologies needed for building a mass production system and innovating the manufacturing industries through early development of new products, production of efficient prototypes and establishment of an optimum mass production system.     According to the roadmap, a total of 416 billion won ($376 million) will be invested in the development of smart manufacturing technologies in the next five years. The ministries plan to reflect the importance of technology development, effects on the industries and level of urgency in their R&D and investment plans starting from next year.     They forecasted that over 56,000 people will be needed in these areas, and the number of new jobs is expected to reach over 25,000. More demand is expected for the areas of design, planning, security and fusion technology R&D.     They plan to focus on the development of human resources for each respective area, strengthening of relationship between businesses and engineering faculties of universities in different regions and designation of human resources development councils for the areas of new technology.     They set up a roadmap promotion council composed of 76 experts from universities, businesses and research institutes at the end of April for the innovation of manufacturing industries with the support of KIAT and IITP.     * Short version date2015-12-10