"Southeast Asia is a Surprisingly Big Market for Domestic Startups"

Interview with Park Jong-seok, CEO of Killsa Global

Jongseok Park, CEO of KILSA

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] "Southeast Asia, which has been regarded only as a production base until now, is becoming a surprisingly promising market for our startup industry."

Park Jong-seok, Global CEO of KILSA, said in an interview with Asia Economy on the 14th that Korean startups need to pay attention to the Southeast Asian market for continuous growth. KILSA is a company that helps startups and small and medium-sized enterprises enter the Southeast Asian market and handles local operations, currently collaborating with 10 domestic startups.

The reason Park focuses on the potential of Southeast Asia, a huge consumer market, is its demographic structure. The population of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is 650 million, ranking third in the world, and the proportion of people under 40 years old is 66%, the highest level globally.

Maintaining an average annual growth rate of over 5% in the past decade, this demographic characteristic is seen as an opportunity for Korean startups. Park said, "Korean startups, which are advanced in IT technologies such as virtual reality (VR), have a good chance if they establish proper commercialization strategies," adding, "Compared to China, which strongly tends to appropriate technologies as their own, the Southeast Asian market poses less risk of technology leakage."

Southeast Asia also has low entry barriers for Korean companies. Park said, "The Southeast Asian market is the most receptive to Korean brands. The young population has no resistance to new technologies," and predicted, "Recently, Korea's image has improved due to the swift response to COVID-19, and the brand reputation will improve further in the long term."

Park explained that Korean healthcare companies' competitiveness in the Southeast Asian market has increased in the post-COVID-19 era. He believes that export certification procedures will become much easier as the image of Korean healthcare has improved after COVID-19. He said, "In the past, certification procedures for Korean healthcare products were complicated, but with Korea's medical system being recognized due to COVID-19, the process has become smoother." In fact, KILSA is facilitating the Southeast Asian market entry of 'Apollon,' which produces hospital consumables such as catheters (tubing).

Park warned that Korean startups might fail if they think they will be easily recognized in Southeast Asia based on technology alone. He explained, "Unlike the Korean startup ecosystem where investment is possible based on technology alone, in Southeast Asia, it is important to prove how to commercialize in the market," adding, "Good technology is fundamental, but it is necessary to adapt and apply it to the market according to local demands."

He continued, "Just as companies like Samsung and LG establish local subsidiaries and invest, startups also need a local platform staffed with local personnel," and stated, "KILSA aims to become the local subsidiary for startups."

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