Strengthening SME Online Exports... "Video Conferences and Permanent Consultation Rooms"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daeseop] The government and organizations related to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are strengthening support measures for online exports by SMEs. They are helping SMEs, which face difficulties in expanding overseas due to the COVID-19 pandemic, to conduct export consultations with overseas buyers through online non-face-to-face methods.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups held an online video export consultation event on the 17th at COEX in Samseong-dong, Seoul, targeting promising consumer goods SMEs entering the New Southern Market. This event was a collaboration between the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the New Southern Policy Special Committee, the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency, and the Korea International Trade Association. A total of 117 companies participated and conducted video consultations with 52 leading buyers from nine New Southern Market countries.

In connection with this video consultation event, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups collaborated with Shopee and Qoo10, leading Southeast Asian online platforms, to open dedicated Korean product sections within shopping malls in seven countries of the New Southern Market to expand the entry of promising consumer goods such as Brand K.

Shim Jae-yoon, Director of the Global Growth Policy Division at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, "The Ministry plans to continuously hold video export consultation meetings until July to help SMEs and startups, including material, parts, and equipment companies and Brand K companies, consult with overseas buyers and lead to contracts."

The Korea SMEs and Startups Agency is recruiting participating companies for the online export joint logistics project until the 3rd of next month. The online export joint logistics project promotes overseas market entry by reducing logistics costs for exporting SMEs. Eligible applicants are SMEs currently exporting or planning to export using e-commerce.

Based on economies of scale generated by aggregating online export volumes, the project provides constant discounts on logistics costs. Through seven logistics service providers, it offers international express mail service (EMS) at logistics rates more than 50% cheaper on average compared to the regular price. If only the logistics cost discount service is used, support is provided without separate evaluation as long as basic requirements are met.

Jo Seung-min, team leader of the online export division at the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency, said, "We also support logistics services such as fulfillment that cover all stages from storage to delivery and the use of logistics hubs." He added, "We provide support of 50-70% for warehouse storage fees, fulfillment fees such as Amazon FBA, customs clearance, and declaration agency fees up to a maximum of 15 million KRW per company, utilizing seven domestic and 28 hubs in 14 overseas countries."

The Korea Federation of SMEs has been operating a free 'Online Video Export Consultation Room' for SMEs since the 15th. Three rooms are installed on the 3rd floor of the Federation’s main building in Yeouido, Seoul, equipped with laptops, webcams, TVs, microphones, conference tables, and chairs, providing independent business spaces.

According to the demand from SMEs affected by COVID-19, the Federation will hold an online video consultation event from the 29th of this month to the 10th of next month, matching strong SMEs in materials, parts, and equipment with buyers from Europe’s strong materials and parts countries. They plan to conduct online video export consultations by industry and theme, including general industrial goods, consumer goods, and food, until the end of July.

Jeon Hye-sook, head of the Trade Promotion Department at the Korea Federation of SMEs, said, "We are promoting non-face-to-face online video consultation meetings in cooperation with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to support SMEs facing export difficulties due to COVID-19." She added, "Since we have established a permanent dedicated consultation room to continuously support non-face-to-face overseas marketing in the post-COVID-19 era, we expect active use by SMEs."

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