□ On May 11, Korea Eximbank Overseas Economics Research Institute (keri.koreaexim.go.kr) issued the “2011 Economic Analysis & Forecast of Developing Countries,” a report on politics and economy of 30 developing countries in emerging markets, the main trading partners with Korea.

○ Korea Eximbank, the only domestic sovereign credit rating agency in Korea, issued the report to help Korean exporters acquire local information required for overseas expansion in response to increasing demand for information on emerging markets. With expertise as a sovereign credit rating institution, Korea Eximbank has evaluated sovereign credit ratings of 70 countries since 1977.

* At the 103rd Ministers’ Meeting for Foreign Economic Affairs, Minister of Strategy and Finance Jeung Hyun Yoon expressed the need for an in-depth study of emerging markets in order to provide Korean companies with information for overseas expansion.

□ The report includes information on 10 countries in Asia, 8 countries in the Middle East & Africa, 6 countries in Europe and CIS, and 6 countries in Latin America and covers topics such as political and economic trends and outlooks, country risks, and relationship with Korea. The report is especially beneficial for SMEs as they have relatively fewer resources to obtain such information.

○ The report forecast that China will seek stable and balanced economic growth and maintain its aggressive fiscal policy, while implementing cautious monetary policies with regard to inflationary pressures and conservatively managing the exchange rate of the Yuan .

○ For Russia, it is anticipated to achieve growth rates of 4%, similar to 2010 levels due to recovering domestic demand.

○ However, Brazil will see little economic growth this year as the government will maintain cautionary macroeconomic policies, emphasizing stability over growth.

□ An official from the Oversees Economic Research Institute of Korea Eximbank stated, “Korea lacks natural resource reserves, so in order to achieve continuous economic growth, Korea must strengthen its relationships with developing nations in addition to relationships with developed countries. As Korea expands its export markets into developing nations, the emerging markets will increase in importance.”