Analysis On Export Competitiveness In Korean Apparel Industry And Its Development Countermeasure

Korean apparel industry has made great contribution to Korean economicdevelopment in terms of expanding export, increasing the employment and theforeign currency income and developed into major export industry since thebeginning days of economic development in Korea. From the 1962 to 1989, theapparel products were the first in the export volume of Korea. However, since1990, its exports have fallen dramatically and gradually lost its competitivenessin export.The modern apparel industry is a knowledge and technology intensiveindustry and high value added industry with abundant capital capability andhighly developed technology as the precondition. Korean apparel industryshould enhance export competitiveness after correctly analyzing its presentenvironment.This paper researches the general export and import situation of Koreanapparel industry, and measures its present export competitiveness from 1990 to2004 by adopting three indexes: International Market Share;RevealedComparative Advantage;Trade Competition. This paper points out the reality ofthe fall of export competitiveness of Korean apparel industry and then furtherlists the reasons of it: lagged equipments;insufficient investment in R&D;highcost labor and shortage in employees;export commodity structure with lowadded value;the mainly OEM export mode.Therefore, to improve the export competitiveness, Korean apparel industrymust enhance automation and modernization of the equipment, strengthen theR&D investment, make use of the oversea production, increase the added valueof the exporting commodities and attach importance to the development of itsown brands.