On November 30, the President urged the Korean government to seek new trade policies to cope with a rapidly changing trade environment in the wake of the global financial crisis.

The President also stressed the importance of penetrating markets in newly emerging economies in his celebratory speech to mark Trade Day at Coex in southern Seoul.

Mentioning newly emerging economies like China, India and Brazil, which have all showed rapid growth and positioned themselves as central to the world’s economy, the president said the center of world trade is shifting to emerging countries from industrialized countries. "The proportion of G7 nations in world trade has been reduced from half to one third, while the G20 accounts for two-thirds of the world economy," he added.
 

The President at a ceremony marking the 47th Trade Day at Coex, on Nov. 30.

"The development agenda of the G20 Seoul Summit also holds significance, in line with the long-term expansion of the overseas market," the President said.

"Backed by our successful development experiences, Korea will seek co-prosperity with developing countries through strengthening human resources and growth potential of development experiences."

The President then urged local small and medium-sized firms (SME) to stop depending on domestic market and to actively enter into international arena by upgrading their competitiveness.

The President declared the Korean government''s intent to incubate more SMEs so that the proportion of SMEs in the country''s total exports can be raised to 40 percent from the current 30 percent. He also expressed his will to help both conglomerates and SMEs to penetrate overseas markets.

The President went on to say that Korea has ratified Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with 45 countries and is currently negotiating with twelve more, including Canada and Mexico. He stressed that Korea will emerge as an FTA hub and a pivot of free trade when the ratification of the Korea-U.S. FTA is finalized.

The Korean government has been improving its export and import finance and logistics system in order to enhance the trade infrastructure. The President urged the whole of Korean society to do its utmost to achieve global competitiveness and turn challenges into opportunities.