Imports in 2009
Exports in 2009
The CIA World Factbookestimates Switzerland's 2011 exports at $308.3 billion and the 2010 exports at $258.5 billion. Imports are estimated to be $299.6 billion in 2011 and $246.2 billion in 2010. According to the World Factbook numbers, Switzerland is the 20th largest exporter and the 18th largest importer.[20]
The United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database has lower numbers for Switzerland's exports and imports. The UN calculates exports at $223.5 billion in 2011 and $185.8 billion in 2010. The value of all imports in 2011 was $197.0 billion and in 2010 it was $166.9 billion.
Switzerland's largest trading partner is Germany. In 2009, 21% of Switzerland's exports and 29% of its imports came from Germany. The United States was the second largest destination of exports (9.1% of total exports) and the fourth largest source of imports (6.7%).
Switzerland's neighbors made up next largest group; Italy was third for exports (8.6%) and second for imports (10%), France was fourth for exports (8%) and third for imports (8.1%) and Austria was fifth for exports (4.6%) and sixth for imports (3.7%). Major non-European trading partners included; Japan (seventh for exports with 3.6% and twelfth for imports with 2%), China (eighth for exports and imports with 3.1% and 2.5% respectively) and Turkey (sixteenth for exports with 1.2% and ninth for imports with 2.3%).
As a first world country with a skilled labor force, the majority of Swiss exports are precision or high tech finished products. Switzerland's largest specific SITC categories of exports include;medicaments, glycosides and vaccines, watches, orthopaedic appliances and precious jewellery. Some raw ores or metals are exported, but the majority of the exports in this category are finished jewellery or other finished products. Agricultural products that Switzerland is famous for, such as cheese (0.29%), wine (0.05%) and chocolate (0.39%) all make up only a small portion of Swiss exports and agricultural products make up only a small portion of all exports.
Switzerland's main imports include; medicaments, cars, precious jewellery and other unclassified transactions. While Switzerland has a long tradition of manufacturing cars, there are currently no large-scale assembly line automobile manufacturers in the country.
Trade Policy of Asian countries
South Korea
South Korea has a market economy which ranks 15th in the world by nominal GDP and 12th by purchasing power parity (PPP), identifying it as one of the G-20 major economies. It is a high-income developed country, with a developed market, and is a member of OECD. South Korea is one of the Asian Tigers, and is the only developed country so far to have been included in the group of Next Eleven countries. South Korea had one of the world's fastest growing economies from the early 1960s to the late 1990s, and South Korea is still one of the fastest growing developed countries in the 2000s, along with Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan, the other three members of Asian Tigers. South Koreans refer to this growth as the Miracle on the Han River. Having almost no natural resources and always suffering from overpopulation in its small territory, which deterred continued population growth and the formation of a large internal consumer market, South Korea adapted an export-oriented economic strategy to fuel its economy, and in 2010, South Korea was the seventh largest exporter and tenth largest importer in the world. Bank of Korea and Korea Development Institute periodically release major economic indicators and economic trends of the economy of South Korea.
In the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, South Korean economy suffered national bankruptcy and relied on the bailout by the IMF that re-structured and modernized the South Korean economy with successive DJnomics policy by President Kim Dae Jung. Despite the South Korean economy's high growth potential and apparent structural stability, South Korea suffers perpetual damage to its credit rating in the stock market due to the belligerence of North Korea in times of deep military crises, which has an adverse effect on the financial markets of the South Korean economy. However, renowned financial organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund, also compliment the resilience of the South Korean economy against various economic crises, citing low state debt, and high fiscal reserves that can quickly be mobilized to address any expected financial emergencies. Other financial organizations like the World Bank describe Korea as one of the fastest-growing major economies of the next generation along with BRIC and Indonesia. South Korea was one of the few developed countries that was able to avoid a recession during the global financial crisis, and its economic growth rate will reach 6.1% in 2010, a sharp recovery from economic growth rates of 2.3% in 2008 and 0.2% in 2009 when the global financial crisis hit.
Throughout the 1980s until the mid 1990s, South Korea's economic prosperity as measured in GDP by PPP per capita was still only a fraction of industrialized nations. In 1980, the South Korean GDP per capita was $2,300, about one-third of nearby developed Asian economies such as Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan. Since then, South Korea has advanced into a developed economy to eventually attain a GDP per capita of $30,000 in 2010, almost thirteen times the figure thirty years ago. The whole country's GDP increased from $88 billion to $1,460 billion in the same time frame. In 2009, South Korea officially became the first major recipient of ODA to have ascended to the status of a major donor of ODA. Between 2008 and 2009, South Korea donated economic aid of $1.7 billion to countries other than North Korea. South Korea's separate annual economic aid to North Korea has historically been more than twice its ODA. On June 23, 2012, South Korea is landmarked to become the 7th member of the 20-50 club (with the population surpassing 50 million and maintaining per capita income of US$20,000), chronologically, after Japan, United States of America, France, Italy, Germany and United Kingdom.
Hong - Kong
As one of the world's leading international financial centre’s, Hong Kong’s service-oriented economy is characterized by low taxation, near-free port trade and well-established international financial market. The currency, the Hong Kong dollar, is legally issued by three major international commercial banks, and pegged to the US Dollar Interest rates are determined by the individual banks in Hong Kong to ensure it is market-driven only and in Hong Kong there is no Central Bank nor any financial system similar to the Federal Reserve System in the US [16][17] (for more, see Exchange Bank Association) and foreign investments to the financial market in Hong Kong are supervised and inspected by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority when destabilizing factors attempt to hit the financial market of this Special Administrative Region of People's Republic of China. Electronic finance trading is evolutionarily impacting the financial market of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong has remained as the world's freest economy, according to Index of Economic Freedom since the inception of the index in 1995. The economy, governed under positive non-interventionism, is highly dependent on international trade and finance and in 2009 the real economic growth fell by 2.8% as a result of the global financial turmoil. Despite the downturn, Hong Kong’s economic strengths, including a sound banking system, virtually no public debt, a strong legal system, ample foreign exchange reserves, rigorous anti-corruption measures and close ties with the mainland China, enable it to quickly respond to changing circumstances. In terms of international comparison, with the most efficient and corruption-free application procedure, lowest income tax and lowest corporate tax as well as abundant and sustainable government finance that the government of Hong Kong consistently upheld the policy of encouraging (and supporting) activities of private businesses and this is having a sound impact on the overall economic performance by removing unnecessary barriers for the private enterprises in the Special Administrative Region. Hong Kong is a favorable destination especially for international firms and firms from Mainland China to be listed in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange from Hong Kong's highly internationalized and modernized financial industry along with its capital market in Asia, its size, regulations and available financial tools are comparable to London and New York.
Hong Kong's gross domestic product, between 1961 and 1997, has grown 180 times while per capita GDP rose by 87 times. Its economy size is slightly bigger than Israel and Ireland and its GDP per capita at purchasing power parity is the 6th highest globally in 2011, more than United States and Netherlands and slightly lower than the Brunei.
By the late 20th century, Hong Kong was the seventh largest port in the world and second only to New York and Rotterdam in terms of container throughput. Hong Kong is a full Member of World Trade Organization. The Kwai Chung container complex was the largest in Asia; while Hong Kong shipping owners were second only to those of Greece in terms of total tonnage holdings in the world. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange is the 5th largest in the world, with a market capitalization of about US$2.63 trillion.
Hong Kong has also had an abundant supply of labour from the region nearby. A skilled labour force coupled with the adoption of modern British/Western business methods and technology ensured that opportunities for external trade, investment, and recruitment were maximised. Prices and wages in Hong Kong are (relatively) flexible depending on the performance and stability of the economy of Hong Kong.
Taxation in Hong Kong raises revenues from the sale and taxation of land and taxes on the accumulative overall economic growth but not engaged directly in industry and commerce as well as individual(s) for its revenue of public finance due to its low tax policy. From its revenues, the government with the policy-making of Executive Council of Hong Kong under jurisdiction of Hong Kong Basic Law has built roads, schools, hospitals, and other public infrastructure facilities and services. It has also operated a welfare insurance scheme. The government has avoided running up large budget deficits; and by restraining public borrowing, credit expansion and inflation have been held in check.