A survey found that 3 out of 10 exporting small and medium enterprises (sme) have been affected by the state of emergency.
On the 18th, the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises said that during an emergency survey conducted from 10th to 13th of this month, 513 exporting small and medium enterprises (sme) were targeted (463 in manufacturing and 50 in non-manufacturing), and 26.3% of these exporting small and medium enterprises (sme) reported suffering from the uncertainty of domestic political situations.
The main cases of damage were 'contract delays, reductions, and cancellations' at 47.4%, followed by 'increased inquiries from overseas buyers' at 23.7%, 'order delays, reductions, and cancellations' at 23.0%, and 'issues caused by high exchange rates' at 22.2%.
While there has been no damage yet, 63.5% of exporting small and medium enterprises (sme) responded that there is a possibility of suffering damage in the future.
A manufacturing company in Cheongju said, 'Due to the unstable domestic situation, overseas buyers are hesitant to pay a deposit when signing contracts,' adding, 'The company's management situation has become very difficult.'
A non-manufacturing company in Busan reported, 'A buyer was scheduled to visit in December, but the schedule has been postponed,' and added, 'I was informed that due to the uncertainty of the current situation, the orders would be postponed until next year.'
Following the state of emergency, there were companies that suffered due to the sharp rise in the won-dollar exchange rate. A manufacturing company in Gyeonggi Province said, 'I had received the invoice the day before the emergency and was about to make the payment, but suddenly the exchange rate shot up overnight, causing a loss,' and noted, 'The overseas partner is trying to expedite the payment deadline for fear that the payment might not be made on time.'
A manufacturing company in Chilgok, North Gyeongsang Province, indicated, 'There is an ongoing contract, but because the exchange rate has risen, the other party is trying to continuously lower the price or delay the contract.'
As for the countermeasures that exporting corporations noted, 'actively clarifying that there are no issues in the domestic situation' was the most common at 51.7%. Other alternatives included 'efforts to discover new buyers' at 13.3% and 'proposing alternative contracts while bearing the damage' at 8.8%. Those reporting 'no appropriate countermeasures' also accounted for 25.5%.
The policies that the government should focus on include 'restoring national credibility' and 'stabilizing the exchange rate.'
Half of the exporting corporations (49.3%) forecast that the duration of uncertainty in the domestic economy will be within '6 months.' Those predicting '1 to 2 years' accounted for 32.2%, 'more than 2 years' at 8.2%, and 'only until this year' at 7.4%.
Choi Moon-gap, head of the economic policy department of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises (sme), stated, 'Due to the decline in national trust and image and the rapid rise in exchange rates, exporting small and medium enterprises (sme) are in a difficult situation,' adding, 'Above all, recovering credibility and stabilizing the exchange rate is crucial.'