Seoul City Connects 100 Promising Hi Seoul Companies with Domestic and International Buyers... 'Hi Seoul Company Festival'

Held on the 17th at DDP
Showcasing excellent products and technologies from 100 companies in fashion, beauty, bio, and health, and matching young talents

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Business Agency (SBA) announced on the 17th that they will hold the 'Seoul Promising Small and Medium Enterprises 2021 Hi Seoul Enterprise Festival' at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) on the 17th to support the domestic and international market expansion of Seoul's promising SMEs, known as 'Hi Seoul Enterprises.'

'Hi Seoul Enterprises' is a system introduced in 2004 to discover small and medium enterprises with excellent technological capabilities but difficulties in developing their own brands, certify them as Hi Seoul Enterprises, and support them to use the Seoul promotional slogan 'Hi Seoul' as a co-brand.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Business Agency select companies annually through a public contest targeting SMEs. Starting with 11 companies in 2004, currently 984 companies have been certified as Hi Seoul Enterprises and are active. In May, the 'Seoul Promising Small and Medium Enterprises Certification and Support' ordinance was promulgated to provide systematic support for Hi Seoul Enterprises.

For example, visitors can see DecoPave's dust-absorbing bricks, a paving block manufacturer; serving and wheelchair robots promoted by the Hi Seoul Enterprise Association as a national project; and health functional foods and yogurt makers from Hurum, recently listed on KOSDAQ.

This festival was organized for the first time to promote 'Hi Seoul Enterprises,' which had few opportunities to showcase their products and technologies due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, and to support practical business outcomes such as contract achievements by matching domestic and international buyers. Programs are also prepared to share the success know-how of Hi Seoul Enterprises that have achieved excellent results and to match Hi Seoul Enterprises with young talents to help SMEs enhance their competitiveness.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government invited a wide range of participants, including famous domestic online and offline distribution MDs, foreign buyers residing in Korea, foreign trade officials, foreign embassy officials in Korea, and domestic and international influencers. In particular, members of the GBA, which includes about 2,000 companies such as foreign entrepreneurs, diplomats, commercial attach?s, and domestic and foreign startups from 60 countries residing in Korea, will also participate.

The main programs of the 'Seoul Promising Small and Medium Enterprises 2021 Hi Seoul Enterprise Festival' include ▲sector-specific company product exhibitions ▲BS consultation meetings ▲young talent matching consultation meetings ▲performance exchange meetings.

The festival will also hold a vision proclamation ceremony for the Seoul Promising Small and Medium Enterprises 2021 Hi Seoul Enterprise Festival. This event symbolizes the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Business Agency as partners for the continuous innovation and growth of Hi Seoul Enterprises. Mayor Oh Se-hoon, SBA CEO Kim Hyun-woo, Hi Seoul Enterprise Association Chairman Cho Hyun-jong, and GBA Chairman Oh Si-nan will attend to support the continuous innovation and growth of Hi Seoul Enterprises amid challenging domestic and international economic conditions.

Additionally, Mayor Oh will award commendations to 10 outstanding companies that contributed to revitalizing Seoul's economy. These 10 companies are Hi Seoul Enterprises that have achieved excellent results in job creation, exports, investment attraction, social contribution, and convergence support.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to successfully conclude this festival and continue to closely support companies by identifying additional needs after the event. Furthermore, it plans to regularize the Hi Seoul Enterprise Festival to continuously support SMEs' market expansion and develop it into a representative SME exhibition of Seoul.

Kim Hyun-woo, CEO of the Seoul Business Agency, said, “Hi Seoul Enterprises started with 11 companies in 2004 and have grown to 984 companies as of 2021, becoming an asset to Seoul's economy. We will actively support the Hi Seoul Enterprise Festival to develop it into Seoul's representative SME exhibition so that our SMEs can thrive in the global market.”

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