'Export Boom Korea Week' Week 2
"Attracting Over 1,200 Buyers... Expecting to Surpass $300 Million"
MOU Signed by 8 Organizations Including KITA... "Creating a Korean-style CES and MWC"
KOTRA, together with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, held the largest-ever Boom-up Korea export consultation event. Through the event, they attracted over 1,200 overseas buyers and are expected to achieve results worth 300 million USD (approximately 410 billion KRW). In addition, KOTRA, the Korea International Trade Association, and the Korea Tourism Organization have agreed to collaborate to host world-renowned exhibitions such as the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in the U.S. and the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Spain domestically.
On the 23rd, KOTRA announced that, together with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, it held the largest-ever Boom-up Korea export consultation event from the previous day through the 23rd at KINTEX in Ilsan, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do. The consultation event is part of the comprehensive export marketing program called 'Export Boom-up Korea Week,' which links 20 industrial exhibitions and export consultations nationwide. Export Boom-up Korea Week has been ongoing since the 16th.
KOTRA stated that this year marks the first introduction of Export Boom-up Korea Week. Previously, the Boom-up Korea event was held in the form of a single export consultation. They introduced the week format by collaborating with the four major domestic exhibition centers?KINTEX in Ilsan, COEX in Seoul, EXCO in Daegu, and BEXCO in Busan?and industry-specific associations. Buyer-tailored services such as information provision and transportation were offered. Through KOTRA trade centers, they attracted over 1,200 overseas buyers from 62 countries, including General Motors (GM), Panasonic, and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). This is the largest export marketing event ever, with 3,000 promising export companies and 200,000 visitors participating.
The venue featured exhibition halls focused on advanced industries such as future vehicles, nuclear power plants, and biotechnology. Hyundai Motor Company showcased a high-performance hydrogen-electric hybrid concept car, Ilsin IDI introduced the world’s first commercialized wireless communication information system for nuclear power plants, and Visa presented Korea’s first trade payment card platform. Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, An Deok-geun, visited the consultation booths and encouraged export contract signings with domestic companies. KOTRA expects to achieve results of 235 million USD (approximately 320 billion KRW) from this week alone, with an estimated total of 300 million USD (approximately 410 billion KRW) including additional contracts.
During the Boom-up Week, KOTRA announced that it will provide various bleisure programs in collaboration with the Korea Tourism Organization, local governments, and regional exhibition centers. For over 1,200 buyers, they will support food and accommodation tourism vouchers, regional tour programs (guided tours, admission discounts, etc.), and K-POP concert tickets. KOTRA expects that supporting buyers will contribute to the regional economy and stimulate domestic consumption.
At this event, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was also signed to foster a national representative brand exhibition. Although Korea’s export volume is on the verge of entering the world’s top five, there is no global exhibition like CES or MWC. Therefore, eight organizations, including the exhibition centers KINTEX, COEX, EXCO, BEXCO, KOTRA, the Korea International Trade Association, and the Korea Tourism Organization, have joined forces to nurture large-scale global exhibitions.
Minister An said, "This 'Export Boom-up Korea Week' is the final sprint for the largest export performance ever," adding, "I hope the export success boom of our companies will spread warmth to domestic consumption, including regional exhibition industries, tourism, food, and accommodation." He continued, "With this MOU as a starting point, we expect to foster Korea’s own national representative exhibitions comparable to CES and MWC," and added, "We will spare no support to ensure that national representative exhibitions become a solid link between exports and domestic consumption."
KOTRA President Yoo Jeong-yeol said, "We prepared the event in active cooperation with major associations and the exhibition industry to ensure that Export Boom-up Korea Week makes a practical contribution to our economy," and added, "We will work together with various organizations to establish it as Korea’s representative export marketing platform."
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