Gyeonggi-do Opens 'Export Route' Blocked by COVID-19... Operates Digital Trade Consultation Room

[Asia Economy (Uijeongbu) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province has opened and started operating a 'Digital Trade Lounge' to assist companies facing difficulties in face-to-face contact due to COVID-19.

On the 18th, Gyeonggi Province announced that it has newly established a digital trade lounge where real-time remote consultations with overseas buyers are possible, and will provide the service to small and medium-sized export companies in the province.

Earlier, to support export companies struggling to enter overseas markets due to COVID-19, the province actively reflected companies' suggestions for non-face-to-face overseas buyer consultations in a field survey conducted in March, leading to the establishment of the digital trade lounge.

The province installed the digital trade lounge with eight booths at the Gyeonggi Global R&DB Center. Additionally, video conferencing systems were set up at 14 Gyeonggi Business Centers (GBC) including Shanghai, China, and Mumbai, India, to enable video consultations from overseas.

Along with the opening of the digital trade lounge, the province held its first video export consultation meeting on the same day. Overseas buyers from nine countries including China, Thailand, the United States, and India, recruited through overseas GBCs, participated in video consultations and conducted one-on-one customized business consultations with 20 small and medium-sized companies in the province.

As COVID-19 prolongs, in the second half of this year, the province plans to conduct video consultations targeting 800 domestic companies and about 1,900 overseas buyers from countries such as China and India. Furthermore, if demand for video consultations increases, the province intends to expand video consultation rooms by region within the province.

Video consultations are free of charge for small and medium-sized companies in the province. Consultations can be conducted at the digital trade lounge, company offices, or homes. The province plans to provide interpretation services as well as video connections with overseas buyers.

Kim Gyu-sik, Director of Economic Planning at the province, said, "We expect the newly established digital trade lounge to be a great driving force for the export vitality of companies in the province," and emphasized, "We will continue to discover areas where untact marketing through online non-face-to-face and contactless methods is possible to provide practical help to companies."

Information on video export consultation meetings using the digital trade lounge can be found on the EGBiz website (www.egbiz.or.kr). For further details, inquiries can be made to the Trade Promotion Team at the Gyeonggi Institute of Economic Science and Technology (031-259-6139) or the Trade Promotion Team at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government’s Foreign Affairs and Trade Division (031-8008-2461).

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