KOTRA and 15 Universities Hold 'FTA Academic Conference'... Concurrent Job Fair with Nike and Others

10th Year of Ministry of Trade Commissioned 'FTA Utilization Specialist Training Project'
"Successful Academic Conference... Positive Response with Concurrent Employment Briefing for Foreign-Invested Companies"

Award-winning team members attending the award ceremony of the '2022 University Student Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Utilization Academic Conference' held by KOTRA at its headquarters in Yeomgok-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, are seen taking a commemorative photo. (Photo by KOTRA)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] KOTRA announced on the 27th that it held the '2022 University Student Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Utilization Academic Conference' at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and its headquarters in Yeomgok-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul.

About 100 participants, including lead professors and university students from 15 of the 19 universities participating in the FTA university lecture support project, attended the event the day before. Since 2013, KOTRA has been promoting the FTA utilization professional manpower training project, commissioned by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. This year, about 1,000 students from 19 universities nationwide, including Kangwon National University, Duksung Women's University, and Jeonbuk National University, are taking FTA utilization courses.

The academic conference marked its 5th year this year. The themes were set around research fields such as FTA utilization support policy measures and utilization fields such as FTA utilization business models, focusing on linking university and industry FTA utilization. Notably, this year the academic conference expanded its scope to include video content in addition to papers, receiving positive responses.

Among a total of 68 FTA utilization submissions, including 52 papers and 16 videos, 18 works that passed the first screening were awarded. On the day of the event, after a competition, awards were presented including 4 Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy Minister’s Awards, 6 KOTRA President’s Awards, and 8 KOTRA Academy Director’s Awards. Two outstanding lead professors who contributed to enhancing the performance of university FTA lectures also received the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy Minister’s Award.

In addition to the paper competition and awards ceremony, a job briefing session was held by inviting HR personnel from global foreign-invested companies such as Nike, attracting the interest of participating students. HR representatives from Korean branches of Nike and Trek Bicycle Korea participated in the briefing to introduce their talent recruitment plans to the students. Lee Sujeong, Director of Trek Bicycle Korea, emphasized, "In addition to accuracy, diligence, cooperation, and communication in work, embracing diversity and flexible responses are also essential competencies for entering global companies," adding, "It is important to carefully consider which 'job' to choose rather than the company name."

Ryu Jaewon, Director of the Trade and Investment Data Headquarters at KOTRA, said, "In the midst of trade conflicts between the U.S. and China, it is more important than anything for our companies to effectively utilize FTAs to expand exports," and added, "To this end, we will closely cooperate with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to expand the university FTA lecture support project and continuously nurture customized professional manpower for companies."