KOTRA Cultivates 'Digital Trade Workforce' to Drive Export Achievements

Dexters Training Project
2nd Term Results Report Meeting

Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) is seeking new achievements in exports and employment through its digital trade workforce training project, known as deXters (hereafter referred to as Dexters).

KOTRA announced on the 30th that it held the 2025 Dexters Training Project 2nd Term Results Report Meeting on the 29th at its headquarters in Yeomgok-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul.

KOTRA held the 2025 Dexters Training Project 2nd Term Results Report Meeting on the 29th at the KOTRA headquarters in Yeomgok-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul. KOTRA

The Dexters Training Project is operated by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KOTRA to fulfill the national policy task of "becoming one of the world's top five export powers through fostering new trade and restructuring the trade framework."

Youths and small and medium-sized enterprises learn the entire process of digital export marketing using KOTRA's digital trade platforms, including BuyKOREA, Overseas Economic Information Dream, Tryvic, and TradeInvest24. The training consists of an eight-week program that includes actual buyer discovery and export practice. Through the 2nd term of the project this year, 327 people were trained, bringing the cumulative number of graduates to 3,166. KOTRA plans to train a total of 5,000 people by 2027.

Since the project began operating in 2022, a total of 406 small and medium-sized enterprises have participated. As of last month, the total export volume of participating companies reached $23.78 million, and among them, 88 companies succeeded in making new export deals.

Philcocosfarm, a cosmetics manufacturing company located in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, participated in the project in September last year. After utilizing digital marketing, the company achieved export results to Vietnam by the end of the same year, and is now preparing for an export contract worth $1.5 million with a U.S. buyer this year. One trainee also succeeded in getting a job at a major domestic cosmetics company.

Lee Junghoon, Vice President and Head of Digital Trade and Investment Division at KOTRA, said, "In a rapidly changing trade environment, digital trade marketing is a useful tool that can save time and costs while generating export results," adding, "We will serve as a reliable guide so that anyone can utilize digital trade platforms and anyone can become an exporter."