Minister of Industry: "KOTRA, Let's Also Strive in Capital Goods Video Consultations Such as Buyer Matching"

Sung Yun-mo, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, Inspects KOTRA Video Consultation Center
"Non-face-to-face Export Support Activated... Online Exhibition Held"

Sung Yun-mo, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy. / Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Sung Yun-mo, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, praised KOTRA for effectively responding to the crisis through video conferences despite the COVID-19 situation. Since video consultations had mainly focused on consumer goods, he also urged to increase achievements in capital goods.

At 4 p.m. on the 8th, Minister Sung visited the video consultation room installed at KOTRA headquarters and made these remarks. This was to check the online export support system, including video consultations, announced at the 4th Emergency Economic Meeting chaired by President Moon Jae-in at 2:30 p.m. that day.

At the consultation room, 70 domestic SMEs from sectors such as cosmetics, medical devices, IT, shipbuilding equipment, and power components participated and held video consultations with 35 overseas buyers from Europe, ASEAN, Russia, and Japan.

Minister Sung encouraged the participating companies, stating, "Last month's exports nearly reached the previous year's level (-0.2%), and export volume increased by 13.1%. This good performance is the result of our export companies quickly changing export routes and timely responding online."

He mentioned the 'Export Vitality Enhancement Plan' announced at the Emergency Economic Meeting that day. Specifically, he stated that comprehensive support would be provided, including ▲ an additional 36 trillion won in trade finance support and strengthening online export support ▲ responding to global supply chain stabilization ▲ easing burdens from research and development (R&D) and environmental regulations.

In particular, to resolve export difficulties, an online exhibition will be launched. Sixty online exhibitions will be operated so that overseas buyers can view Korean companies' products, and local trade offices will act as branches for 10,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies.

He emphasized that, in preparation for the growth of the 'contactless economy,' the process of matching buyers?including consultations, contracts, customs clearance, and logistics?will be fully preserved online. He also announced plans to significantly expand infrastructure to strengthen online exports by establishing online-exclusive direct trade insurance and guarantees.

Minister Sung noted that since video consultations had been biased toward consumer goods, it is necessary to also increase achievements in capital goods items.

To this end, he revealed plans to promote ▲ selective matching of promising buyers through collaboration between trade offices, global companies, and local cooperative organizations ▲ customized support such as export voucher sample shipments and AR/VR on-site inspections of domestic factories for materials, parts, and equipment items ▲ online pre-coordination and offline in-depth consultations.

He also held a video conference with the head of KOTRA's Europe regional headquarters through the video consultation system. Given the restrictions on borders, personnel, and logistics movement due to the spread of COVID-19, he urged KOTRA's overseas trade offices to fully act as the hands and feet of companies, fulfilling the roles of local branches and trading companies.

Meanwhile, KOTRA reported that from February 13 to the 6th of this month, it conducted 2,343 video consultations, with contract negotiations worth 120 million USD underway. This is 2.5 times the total support performance of 960 cases last year. Among these, contracts worth 20 million USD have been confirmed. Since mid-last month, an average of more than 110 consultations have been supported daily.

Due to the surge in demand for video consultations, the domestic video consultation booths will be increased from the current 5 to 15 booths. Domestically, more than 60 booths and overseas from the current 44 to over 88 will be expanded, aiming to support more than 5,000 corporate video consultations by the end of the year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.