KCCI and KOTRA to Support SME Exports with Real-Time Information on K-Consumer Goods

MOU Signed to Support SME and Mid-Sized Company Exports Using Product Database
Product Information DB to Recommend Promising Goods
Customized Support Including Overseas Buyer and Market Matching

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on January 14 to support overseas exports by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies through the use of product information.

KCCI-KOTRA Business Agreement Ceremony. Lee Heewon, Director of Distribution and Logistics Promotion Institute at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (right), and Kang Sangyeop, Vice President of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (left), are taking a commemorative photo with attendees after signing the agreement. Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI)

Under this agreement, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry will provide a database (DB) of consumer goods companies and product information, which KOTRA will use to offer customized support such as export marketing through its overseas networks.

Until now, export support agencies such as KOTRA have had to spend significant time gathering product information from various domestic companies when recommending promising Korean products to overseas buyers.

However, with this agreement, KOTRA's domestic and international trade offices will be able to easily access company-specific and product group information on K-consumer goods such as food, beauty, and household items, and provide it to overseas buyers.

The Distribution and Logistics Promotion Center of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry serves as the Korean agency for GS1, the international private standards organization for barcodes, and has built and operates a product information database for about 50,000 domestic companies. Previously, this database was mainly used for private companies' market research, new product planning, and blocking hazardous products, but with this MOU, its use is expected to expand to supporting exports by SMEs and mid-sized companies.

The two organizations expect that this support system, combined with the popularity of K-consumer goods linked to the Korean Wave, will accelerate the overseas expansion of small and mid-sized companies. They also stated that, after technical consultations, product information will be provided to overseas trade offices starting next month. For manufacturers and distributors of products that attract high interest from overseas buyers, tailored support such as buyer and market matching and entry into overseas distribution networks will be promoted.

Lee Heewon, Director of the Distribution and Logistics Promotion Center at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said, "We hope that the product information database built over the past 20 years by the Distribution and Logistics Promotion Center will be used for customized support such as K-consumer goods export marketing and provide practical help for the successful overseas expansion of domestic small businesses."