South Korea’s ICT sector accounts for 10.7 percent of the country’s gross value added, or the value of goods and services produced in the economy minus intermediate consumption, according to the report from accounting firm Samjong KPMG. (Image: Kobiz Media)
SEOUL, Sept. 13 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s dependency on the information and communication technology (ICT) industry for its output is nearly twice the average for major industrialized economies, a report said Wednesday.
South Korea’s ICT sector accounts for 10.7 percent of the country’s gross value added, or the value of goods and services produced in the economy minus intermediate consumption, according to the report from accounting firm Samjong KPMG.
The figure is almost two times the 5.5 percent average for 35 members of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Last year, South Korea’s exports of ICT products stood at about 143 trillion won (US$127 billion), taking up 25.6 percent of the country’s total overseas shipments.
With the ICT industry expanding its presence, cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) among industry players have also been on the rise over the past eight years, the report also said.
As of end-May this year, cross-border deals accounted for 34.6 percent of the global market for ICT M&As, compared with 27 percent in 2009. The comparable figure for South Korea rose to 30.6 percent from 13.1 percent over the cited period.
South Korean ICT companies have acquired 52 American firms, 22 Japanese corporations, eight Canadian businesses and six Chinese concerns during the period.
Samjong KPMG attributed the ICT industry’s active M&A activity to its diversity and fast convergence, advising local ICT companies to carve out new service areas by introducing key technologies for the fourth industrial revolution through cross-border M&As.
(Yonhap)
