The textile and garment industry is one of the important industries in South Korea. The textile and garment industry contributes 8% to the total national assets. In recent years, the sales price of Korean products is generally higher compared with the technical level contained in it, resulting in high costs. , The inefficient development structure seriously threatens the development of the Korean textile industry. In order to promote industrial upgrading, the Korean government actively provides financial subsidies to enterprises and rewards the relocation of labor-intensive industries. Both Vietnam and Nicaragua have become areas for the relocation of the Korean textile and apparel industry. The relocation of the Korean textile and apparel industry takes into account the local labor force on the one hand and the operating market on the other.
The textile and garment industry is one of South Korea’s important industries. In 2000, South Korea’s textile and garment industry accounted for 8% of the gross national product, and the number of people engaged in the textile industry accounted for 19% of the total number of industrial employees; in 2002, South Korea’s cotton textile industry went through structural adjustment, reducing the number of spinning machines by 200,000 spindles, making cotton spinning products The quality and variety have been greatly improved. The main export regions of Korean garments are the United States, Europe, Japan and China, and exports to China have increased in recent years.
According to United Nations statistics, South Korea’s textile export value in 2001 was US$15.3 billion, with a market share of 4.4%, ranking fifth in the world; in 2002, total garment exports were US$3.852 billion, growing to US$6.6 billion in 2003; The total export value of fiber products in 2004 was US$15.2 billion, of which the export value of textile machinery and equipment was US$1.113 billion, an increase of 20.2% compared with the export value of US$926 million in 2003. The annual trade surplus of South Korea’s textile industry is generally around US$10 billion. The export value of the textile and garment industry accounts for 11.3% of the total manufacturing export value, of which the garment industry accounts for 3.4%.
In recent years, the share of Korean textile and apparel products in the world market has been declining. The direct reason is that the sales price of Korean products is generally higher compared with the technical level contained in it. The fundamental reason for this unreasonable price system is Its domestic “high cost, low efficiency” structure. South Korea’s export products mainly rely on the “OEM method” (commissioned processing or foreign OEM production method) to produce medium and low-priced ordinary products. As a result, South Korea is subordinate to developed countries in terms of cutting-edge technology and design, and cannot flexibly cope with foreign trade. Changes in conditions; products lack specialization and uniqueness, and the overall technical level only reaches 80% of that in developed countries, especially the low level of core technologies such as new materials and dyeing processing. As developed countries strive to develop high-tech and high value-added products, and developing countries use cheap labor to expand product exports, South Korea’s textile industry has been severely challenged. In addition, China and Southeast Asian countries are catching up, which has also become a factor threatening the Korean textile industry.
In recent years, in order to promote industrial upgrading, the Korean government has actively provided financial subsidies to enterprises and encouraged the relocation of labor-intensive industries.
South Korea is the fourth largest textile producer in the world. In order to reduce costs and facilitate exports, Korean textile and garment companies have invested and set up factories abroad one after another. 80% of overseas investment is concentrated in Asia. Most of the Asian regions are China, and China is dominated by the three provinces of Shandong, Liaoning, and Jilin. In recent years, due to its labor price advantages and preferential investment policies, Vietnam has become an emerging hot spot for investment by Korean companies. By the end of 2004, there were more than 20,000 domestic textile companies in South Korea and more than 3,500 overseas investment enterprises, accounting for about 62.8% in China alone, with investment reaching US$800 million.
Nicaragua is close to the United States, has a convenient geographical location and low labor wages. It also enjoys the advantages of multiple free trade agreements and TPL tariff quotas for garments exported to the United States, attracting a large number of Korean textile and garment industries to settle in. In order to expand the scale of operations and increase corporate profits, Korean companies have invested heavily in the operation of processing and export zones. It is reported that in 2013, the garment department of South Korea’s famous Hanshi Group officially entered Nicaragua and is expected to employ 3,000 people locally to engage in the processing and production of garments exported to the United States.
