South Korea as a Global Sourcing Site for Textile and Apparel Produce

Korea is facing great threat from other countries as a major global sourcing site for textile and apparel products. The threat has been augmented by changes in external environment such as advents of Trading Blocs and Free Trade Area(FTA) as well as internal environment such as hikes in labor cost and lack of flexibility in accommodating international buyers' needs. This study analyzed international buyers' sourcing activities in Korea for the purpose of developing strategies to enhance competitiveness of the Korean textile and apparel industries in the global market. The data used in this study were gathered by surveying 52 non-Korean textile and apparel product buyers with cooperation of the Korea Federation of Textile Industries (KOFOTI). The data were analyzed by mean, frequency, Pearson correlation coefficient, and ｘ$^2$ analysis. The results indicated that Korea is still attractive to many international buyers especially to those who have been engaged in global sourcing for longer periods of time with bigger purchasing budgets. However, in order to expand and solidify their customer bases, Korean companies should focus more on developing competitively priced value added products a step ahead of their foreign competitors, diversifying their marketing channels including internet.

글로벌 소싱 기지로서의 한국 섬유.의류산업의 현황