KOTRA Partners with Lotte to Support Latin American Exports in Mexico

Local Event Held from the 13th to the 16th

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KOTRA held the '2024 Korea Brand Expo in Mexico' at the World Trade Center in Mexico City, Mexico, for four days from the 13th to the 16th of this month to help our small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) enter the Latin American market. This event was organized with the purpose of supporting SMEs struggling to develop overseas sales channels, in collaboration with Lotte.

During the two-day consultation meeting held from the 13th, more than 80 buyers from seven Latin American countries including Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and the Dominican Republic, who are interested in Korean products focusing on items with increasing local demand, were attracted, enabling about 47 of our SMEs to conduct over 400 consultations. The consultation performance amounted to a total of 10 million USD. In particular, 20 products certified as KOTRA World-Class Products participated, conducting exhibitions and online consultations, attracting the attention of local buyers.

The head of the beauty division at Mercado Libre, Mexico's number one online distribution network, who participated in this consultation meeting, said, "Demand for Korean beauty products on the platform is steadily increasing," and added, "Recently, the search volume for Korean food products has also been rising." He further stated, "We plan to continuously cooperate with KOTRA to expand the entry of excellent Korean companies, including those participating in this consultation meeting."

KOTRA has been supporting joint overseas market development for large and small-medium enterprises through collaboration with Lotte since 2017. In the case of Latin America, as of last year, it accounts for about 6.2% of the world's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), equivalent to 6.25 trillion USD, and boasts a huge consumer market with a population of 660 million, which is 8.3% of the world's population. Recently, due to the Korean Wave, demand for Korean consumer goods has increased. In particular, the scale of Korean cosmetics exported to Mexico has increased more than tenfold over the past 10 years (2002?2022).

Kim Sang-soon, head of KOTRA's Latin America Regional Headquarters, said, "Mexico is our country's tenth largest export destination and a market with high growth potential. Due to the recent Korean Wave, demand for Korean consumer goods continues to increase," and added, "KOTRA plans to continue various support projects such as supporting entry into distribution networks to expand market entry into Latin America, centered on Mexico."