South Korea will seek to raise the value of its trade to $2 trillion by 2030 by pushing for the digitalization of its trade infrastructure, the industry ministry said Friday.

South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy, will also push to hike the number of small and medium-sized exporting companies to 200,000 by that year.

The ministry unveiled the ambitious plan during an expanded trade strategy coordination meeting chaired by Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun.

"A structural innovation is needed to make a new leap to the milestone," Industry Minister Sung Yun-mo said at the meeting.

"South Korea should create new exporters and markets in line with trade digitalization and the spread of an untact economy due to the coronavirus pandemic."

In order to achieve the long-term trade volume target, the ministry said, it will push to establish a global online platform for electronic contract signings and settlements, among other things.

The plan comes as South Korea's trade value has been hovering around $1 trillion since breaking that mark in 2011, with the number of smaller exporting companies failing to pass the 100,000 level after surpassing 90,000 in 2016.

In particular, South Korea's trade is unlikely to reach the $1 trillion mark in 2020 due to the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and a Sino-US trade row.

South Korea's exports and imports stood at about $174 billion in the November-December period last year. It would mark the first time in four years for South Korea's trade volume to hover below the $1 trillion mark. (Yonhap)