Import and export activities account for up to 72 percent of Korea's GDP. What would Singapore companines need to know if they are interested
in trading with Korea?
In August 2005 the Korea-
Singapore Free Trade Agreement was signed, making 75 percent of Singapore's domestic exports
to Korea tariff-free.
Case Study
A Singapore-based software company capitalises on South Korea's broadband nation
In a country where internet penetration is 70 percent and the User-Created Content (UCC) craze has reached even the government --- South Korea's Ministry of Culture recently had a UCC contest --- electronic hardware is constantly evolving, allowing users to create videos of better quality. Nokia, LG, Samsung and Nikon have even included an automated video application, which produces content from video clips, pictures and music, in their higher-end phone models.
muvee, who has been developing this technology since 2001, is featured in the camcorders, computers and mobile phones of some of the biggest brands, including Hewlett-Packard, Sony, Nikon and Olympus.
muvee outshines other video editing software for the sole reason of being fun and easy to use. The automated editing process involves three easy steps; adding video clips and photos; selecting a style, such as "Chinese New Year" or classic silent film; and adding background music. Within seconds a professional video is produced with no need for the user to pore through hours of footage.
In 2004 muvee met with a manufacturers' sales representative, who was selling graphics processor chips to large PC and video board makers in Korea. After their first major deal to license their technology to LG Electronics for phone applications, muvee now supplies the entire application and related video codecs, often with the muvee team working alongside LG developers. Their muvee Studio application is currently embedded in more than 40 LG phones including popular global models like the Viewty, Shine and Renoir.
The South Korea venture also brought other successes. The mobile version of the muvee software was launched in three Samsung phone models in China during the Beijing Olympics and later, two phone models in Russia. In 2008 a muvee online application went live in Cyworld, Korea's largest social network with 22 million registered users.
International Enterprise (IE) Singapore has been encouraging muvee's South Korean expansion. The IE Korean Trade mission organised in 2003 opened the founders' eyes to the tech savvy South Korean market, with the 2007 trade mission indirectly cementing muvee's relationship with Samsung Mobile.
"Having an IE team in the heart of Seoul does give any small company thinking of expanding into Korea the comfort that you are not alone in the city," Terence Swee, one of muvee's two founders, said. He went on to encourage companies to "charge ahead" and chart their own course.
A complimentary service by www.iadvisory.com.sg
Name: Sunny Chia
Company: UPS
Expertise: Import/Export
Market: Asia Pacific, Europe
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