Feb 18 (JoongAng Ilbo) - There are some
concerns surrounding the current Internet venture industry, despite its
present growth, in step with the recent economic recovery.
Oh Soo-ick, professor at Seoul National University, said, "The
success of today's U.S. economy is partly attributed to the continuing
support that has been given to manufacturing circles since the 1990s.
Now, the U.S. economy is outpacing the technologically-driven Japanese
economy. It's time to redistribute the balance of national
resources."
Internet businesses have created an enormous impact on the industrial
paradigm, but at the core of most businesses is manufacturing. In the
90s, the superiority of the U.S. over the Japanese in the auto industry
is a reflection of this manufacturing support, dating back to 1985.
A majority of experts agree that e-commerce is the future of
international competitiveness. They have, however, divided opinions
regarding the amount of investment that should be injected into these
Internet businesses.
Kim Seung-jae, managing director of the Korea Industrial Technology
Association, said, "We cannot merely depend upon online business,
though, for the time being, continuous input is needed to build its
infrastructure." He added that online commerce will grow in close
connection with off-line business. In other words, the best e-trade
firms will not become internationally competitive without manufacturing
high quality goods, such as automobiles or shoes.
Internet venture businesses can be divided into small and large
enterprises, not simply on- and off-line enterprises. Previously,
national or industrial competitiveness had rested on the shoulders of
large companies, but Internet venture companies are leading the
mainstream in some fields by specializing in one or two areas.
Kim gives a high value to the bio-technology industry in this regard.
In the U.S., while the internet venture realm is showing signs of
slowing down, bio-technology companies remain in high gear. Research in
life and health fields, such as the human genome project, have been
producing tremendous results after ten years of steady investment close
to $900,000.
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