s structural weaknesses. also, korea overcame the global financial crisis thanks largely to bold initiatives by the government and the central bank, such as the expansion of fiscal spending and swift policy rate cuts. so far, the remarkable development of the korean economy has been attributable mainly to increases in external trade, and in this sense the korea - us fta, which came into effect recently, is expected to provide economic benefits to both nations. the effects of an fta vary depending upon the counterparts ’ economic conditions and their trade structures. but for korea, a number of ftas have served to spur on the growth of trade. ( the korea - eu fta took effect in july 2011 ) even though our overall exports to the eu have declined owing to the sovereign debt crisis, since the conclusion of the korea - eu fta, the exports of those items that benefit from the fta have maintained high rates of growth. [UNK] increases in exports with eu h1. 2011 h2 degree of tariff reduction total exports 16. 7 – 7. 9 automobiles [ 10. 4 ] 51. 3 87. 5 gradual elimination of 10 % over 3 ~ 5 years petroleum products [ 5. 3 ] 92. 8 26. 0 immediate elimination of 3 ~ 7 % notes : yoy %, [ ] represent the share of items in exports with the eu in 2011 the korea - us fta is believed to help maintain korea ’ s export momentum with the us through tariff reductions. in addition, the fta is likely to boost brand recognition of korean products that rank much lower in terms of technology and quality. from a medium - and long term perspective, the fta is expected to heighten the competitiveness of relatively weak service industries in korea including the financial, legal, accounting and consulting sectors. bis central bankers ’ speeches competitiveness factors of export1 ) korea - us fta ’ s effects ( %, 100mil. usd ) average tariff increases in rates exports to the in the us us1 ) total exports automobiles electronics textile machinery chemicals 2. 5 2. 2 13. 0 1. 7 3. 2 12. 9 7. 2 1. 6 1. 1 0. 6 0. 5 note : 1 ) annual average for 15 years after the fta takes effect note : 1 ) survey of us buyers source : kita source : kiep for the us, the fta with korea, the largest after nafta, is likely to help the us economy, which is

crisis and prevent another, the highest priority is placed on leading world economic growth. in this respect, global financial markets are supposed to leave the icu ( intensive care unit ), and time is ripe to initiate a new strategy for further growth by attaining a global equilibrium. asian emerging market economies ( emes ) have shown rapid growth, boosted by an export - oriented growth strategy, cheap high - quality labor, and the introduction of capital and technology from advanced countries, and so on. unlike advanced economies ( aes ), asian emes, in particular, have been growing steadily since the global financial crisis. gdp growth ( % ) source : imf korea china india us euro 0. 3 9. 2 6. 8 – 3. 5 – 4. 3 6. 3 10. 4 9. 9 3. 0 1. 9 3. 6 9. 2 7. 4 1. 8 1. 6 source : imf, bok the asian economy has been leading global economic growth since the 1980s and its importance is expected to grow even further. although having been temporarily sluggish due to the currency crisis in late 1990s, the gdp, trade volume and foreign reserves of the economy in this region have all been on a steady rise. bis central bankers ’ speeches share of asia in the world economy 12. 5 in 1960 → 19. 8 in 1980 → ( %, based on nominal gdp ) 27. 4 in 2011 trade volume china ( 2 ) japan ( 4 ) korea ( world rank, 2010 ) hong kong ( 10 ) singapore official foreign reserves china ( 1 ) japan ( 2 ) taiwan ( world rank, 2011 ) korea ( 7 ) india especially, the rate of contribution of asian emes to world gdp rose from 14 % in 1970s to 23 % in 1980s, 34 % in 1990s and 50 % during the period for 2000 ~ 2011. the imf forecasts the rate to remain at around 50 % for the coming five years. however, regarding macro - financial linkages, the international community has so far stressed securing financial stability, focusing more on the effect of finance on the macro - economy than on that of the macro - economy on finance. as a result, the injection of global financial resources concentrated poured mainly into greece and other heavily indebted countries in the euro area, and a relatively smaller proportion of these resources was allocated for growth promotion and job creation. in this respect, a true normalization of the current sovereign debt crises in the euro area can take place