Martial Arts, 'COVID-19 Overcome Export Excellence Case' Contest

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] The Korea International Trade Association (KITA) announced on the 27th that it held the 'COVID-19 Overcoming Export Success Stories Content Contest Award Ceremony' at the Trade Tower in Samseong-dong.

This contest was held from July 13 to August 23 targeting domestic university students to widely share the export success secrets and know-how of export novice companies and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that succeeded in exports despite difficulties caused by the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). The aim was to boost export vitality and pride among companies and increase the public's familiarity with trade. Students participated by visiting companies directly and conducting interviews, then creating videos and card news to enter the contest.

A total of 24 teams submitted content for this contest, and KITA selected seven winners through a rigorous evaluation process: one grand prize winner, two excellence award winners, and four merit award winners, awarding them the KITA Chairman’s Award.

The grand prize was awarded to the 'COVID-19 but It's Okay' team from Jeonbuk National University, which featured the case of 'Chunha Co., Ltd.', a high-altitude ladder truck manufacturer. The team received high scores for their compelling and high-quality video, which was surprisingly impressive for university students. The story focused on the company located in Gimje City, known primarily for agricultural products like rice and grapes, and highlighted how the company overcame a crisis when unpaid receivables occurred with an existing Turkish client, resolving the issue smoothly with the help of a KITA advisory committee member. It also covered the success story of discovering new clients and signing a new contract worth $3 million in January this year despite COVID-19, with ongoing contract fulfillment.

The 'Export Helper' team from Dankook University, which won an excellence award, featured the case of 'YP Co., Ltd.', which succeeded in exporting protective suits, a K-quarantine item. Originally distributing baby and pet products, YP shifted to handling protective suits as an alternative export product to overcome the COVID-19 crisis. The judges highly appreciated how the team clearly explained how companies struggling due to COVID-19 could diversify export items and achieve export success.

Also winning an excellence award, the 'Dandae Lake' team from Dankook University covered the case of ‘Baramkkot Succulent Garden’, a succulent plant handling company. In the video, Chaemin-jung, director of Baramkkot Succulent Garden, said, "We greatly benefited from marketing through social networking services (SNS)," adding, "Especially, the help of export field advisory member Park Sang-gil and KITA’s support service for producing English catalogs was significant."

Other merit award winners included the 'Splendid Lighting' team from Kangwon National University, which covered the case of ‘Pyeongchang Farm’, whose agricultural exports increased despite COVID-19 by utilizing various export support programs from KITA; the 'BELIGHT' team from Jeonbuk National University, which featured ‘Renewal Co., Ltd.’, exporting 100,000 masks to China; the 'Gimisanggung' team from Jeonbuk National University, which covered ‘Gahyun Foodville’s’ successful initial export of seasoned seaweed worth $800,000 to Japan; and the KITA university student PR ambassador team 'Bona Fide Trader', which creatively presented the case of ‘Arc Co., Ltd.’ exporting cosmetics to China in a theatrical format.