The South Korean government has set the target of achieving $700 billion in exports this year by supporting 20 key items such as chips and automobiles.

During a public-private export expansion meeting on Wednesday, Ahn Duk-geun, Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy, noted that Korea will aim to achieve $700 billion in exports this year, attract $35 billion in foreign investment, and invest 110 trillion won ($82.5 billion) in the country’s advanced industry sectors.

The government selected 20 key export items such as semiconductors and automobiles based on global trends such as supply chain restructuring, carbon neutrality, digital transformation, and demographic changes.

In particular, the government plans to bolster the competitiveness of fabless companies in the first half of this year, with a substantial support package for research and development.

In the automobile sector, the government plans to expand production capacity, particularly of electric vehicles. It will aim to increase EV production capacity to 1.5 million units by 2030.

Support measures for secondary battery exports will focus on diversifying product categories through the development of next-generation batteries, workforce training, and securing supply chains.

In the digital transformation sector, priorities include fostering display, home appliances, ICT services, content, and machinery and robotics as primary export items.

In the content sector, the government plans to establish a 150 billion won export fund and aim for $16 million in exports with K-content marketing. Addressing demographic changes, the government aims to pioneer the bio-health and food markets while enhancing industries like shipbuilding and petrochemicals to achieve carbon neutrality.

The government also plans to implement market-specific strategies, grouping the U.S., ASEAN, and China as key markets, the European Union (EU), the Middle East, and Japan as strategic markets, and India, Latin America, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) as emerging markets.

By Lee Jin-han and Chang Iou-chung

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