ICT to spur Korean economic growth 

SEOUL: Effective use of Information and Communications

Technologies (ICT), particularly in the service industry, is key to continued

economic growth in Korea, according to the macro-economic study conducted by

Ovum in conjunction with consultancy Indepen.






The production and export of consumer electronics, mobile handsets and
telecommunications network equipment have been the cornerstone of the Korean

'economic miracle' of the last 10-15 years. However, Korea is now coming under

severe pressure from China and other emerging nations in ICT manufacture and

exports.






To sustain its strong growth, Korea needs to diversify and tap into the
potential of its services industry by increase the productivity of the services

industry, maximise the use of ICT in the services industry and actively support

exports of ICT services, the report stated.






Susan Sweet, consulting director at Ovum and one of the authors of the report,
said, 'Productivity is currently very low in the Korean service sector by OECD

standards. This poor performance coincides with a low effective usage of ICT,

specifically in the business-to-business and government-to-business sectors.”






'In most developed economies, the retail, wholesale, financial services and
business service industries make intensive use of ICT and have made an impact on

productivity growth. Boosting the effective use of ICT in the Korean service

industry would have an immediate knock-on effect on the overall economy,"

said Sweet.






To achieve this, policy-makers in Korea must enable a transition from an economy
that is primarily manufacturing-based to a service-based economy.






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