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And another topic discussed at the meeting in the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae
was the government's ambitious plan to turn Korea into a northeast Asian oil trading hub.
Experts, however, are pointing out that, while it sounds great in theory, the country faces
daunting tasks to attract foreign participants. Laah Hyun-kyung reports.
The government is aiming to make Korea one of the world's major oil trading and storage
hubs. Trade and energy minister Yoon Sang-jick said
Wednesday that 1-point-8 billion U.S. dollars in private sector investment will go into
securing oil storage terminals that can hold nearly 60-million barrels of oil.
The government says it t wants this complete by the year 2020.
If all goes as planned, Korea would then have a greater storage capacity than Singapore,...
the world's third largest oil storage center. An annual oil trading volume of 25 billion
more than 50 billion dollars of economic benefits over the next decade?.
The government hopes the terminals, planned to be expanded in the country's southern cities
of Ulsan and Yeosu... will help the country serve as a major oil trading hub.
Policymakers plan to offer favorable loans, tax breaks and other incentives to oil traders
setting up operations here as well as streamlining red tape to create a better trading environment
in the country. But some industry experts point out that the
success of the government project will depend largely on the difficult task of building
the financial infrastructure for the trading system.
A researcher at the Korea Energy Economics Institute told Arirang News that... one of
the main problems is that... the Korean won is not a major currency used in international
trade...adding that reaching the government's goal of making Korea Northeast Asia's main
oil hub could take well
over a decade. Laah Hyun-kyung, Arirang News