KOTRA Launches 'Emergency Logistics Support Project' for Ukraine Crisis

Utilizing Joint Logistics Centers... Up to 70% Support Within a Limit of 10 Million Won

[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-ho Kim] The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) announced on the 3rd that it will implement an "Emergency Logistics Support Project" in response to the Ukraine crisis.

This project supports cases where cargo being transported to Russia and Ukraine needs to be urgently redirected to other regions or when temporary storage at overseas local warehouses is required while searching for alternative buyers. KOTRA will cover up to 70% of the necessary costs within a limit of 10 million KRW. Companies can freely choose and use any of the 20 KOTRA joint logistics centers located in nine cities including Hamburg, Amsterdam, Warsaw, and Vienna.

Before the Ukraine crisis escalated, KOTRA quickly secured spare space at joint logistics centers near Russia and Ukraine in preparation for emergencies. Companies currently using joint logistics centers in Kyiv and various locations in Russia can also switch to other regional joint logistics centers if they face logistical difficulties due to the current situation.

Currently, KOTRA operates 226 Korea-exclusive joint logistics centers in cooperation with local logistics companies in 127 cities worldwide, including Los Angeles, New York, Singapore, and Shanghai. Each joint logistics center supports the entire logistics process, including international transportation, customs clearance, general warehousing, bonded warehousing, cold storage, packaging and labeling, inland transportation, cargo return, and returns processing.

As the global logistics crisis worsened, KOTRA rapidly expanded its overseas joint logistics centers from logistics hubs to worldwide locations. The number of joint logistics centers increased fivefold from 41 in 2019 to 226 currently over about two years. During the same period, the number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) using these centers rose sevenfold from 176 to 1,212.

Meanwhile, KOTRA also proposed a solution to the major logistics bottleneck of container space shortages. It secured some fixed container space contracted by major domestic logistics companies with leading global shipping lines and converted it for exclusive use by SMEs. As a result, SMEs can now use fixed container space of about 70 TEU (1 TEU equals one 6-meter container) weekly on major ports along the U.S. East and West Coasts and Northern Europe.

Yoo Jung-yeol, President of KOTRA, stated, “Logistics stability is crucial to maintaining export momentum,” and added, “We will strive even harder to respond swiftly and promptly to logistics difficulties.”

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