South Korea’s textile industry seeks to increase its exports to a 12-year high this year amid hopes of growing shipments to the United States following the soon expected implementation of a free trade agreement , a local industry group said Monday.

The Korea Federation of Textile Industries said the country’s total exports this year will likely reach $17 billion, up 6.4 percent from $16 billion last year.

“Economic conditions are still not very good due to the financial crisis in Europe, but the federation will actively take advantage of the new opportunity created by the Korea-U.S. FTA to not only boost its textile exports, but also increase its employment and create a world-class brand,” it said in a press release.

The 2012 goal, if realized, will mark the highest in exports since 2000 when the country shipped some $17.7 billion worth of textile products abroad.

The country’s textile exports had dipped to as low as $12.6 billion in 2010, which also pulled down its global market share to 2.1 percent from 5 percent in 2000.

The textile federation earlier attributed the drop to growing global competition, especially from China, whose textile exports in 2010 reached $242.5 billion, accounting for 40.3 percent of global trade.

Still, it said the industry was one of the most lucrative sectors for South Korea, adding the industry has recorded an accumulated trade surplus of $303 billion from 1977 to 2010.
 

(Yonhap News)