Hong Nam-ki Visits Incheon Port: "12 Temporary Ships to be Deployed This Month"

Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance (far right), is meeting and encouraging export-import company officials at Incheon Port on the 20th. (Photo by Deputy Prime Minister Hong's Facebook)

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Son Seon-hee] Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, announced on the 20th, during the Chuseok holiday, that "a total mobilization of available vessels from national shipping companies will be made, including the deployment of 12 temporary ships within this month," to address logistics difficulties faced by export companies.

After visiting the 'Sunkwang New Container Terminal' at Incheon Port on the same day, Deputy Prime Minister Hong stated on his social media (SNS), "Even after Chuseok, our economy must continuously strengthen and maintain export capacity to keep the spark of recovery alive and achieve a faster rebound as soon as the quarantine situation stabilizes." He added, "We will continue to support dedicated shipping space for small and medium-sized enterprises and provide ongoing financial support to companies facing difficult conditions. We will also strive to create a win-win logistics ecosystem between shipowners and cargo owners through expanding long-term shipping contracts, distributing standard shipping contract forms, and promoting logistics information provision."

Deputy Prime Minister Hong's visit on this day was to encourage workers laboring at export-import sites that do not stop even during the Chuseok holiday and to inspect logistics difficulties. He said, "The export growth trend (September 1?10, 30.7%) has continued since the beginning of this month," and added, "This is thanks to the hard work of businesspeople navigating the global export market and workers sweating on the export frontlines."

He continued, "I have heard voices from the field about export-import logistics difficulties faced by companies due to increased cargo volume from the recent global economic recovery, shortage of shipping space, and sharp rise in maritime freight rates," and stated, "The government is making all-out efforts to resolve logistics difficulties by expanding vessel supply, allocating dedicated shipping space for SMEs, supporting logistics costs and financing, and securing alternative storage yards."