Korea Federation of SMEs, Recruiting Lead Organizations for the '2023 Export Consortium Project'

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business (KSMB), together with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, announced on the 18th that it is recruiting lead organizations for the '2023 Export Consortium Project' until the 30th. This project forms export consortia by industry and region to support the globalization and export promotion of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by dispatching them to overseas markets.

The Export Consortium Project is an export support program that assists SMEs' overseas marketing activities by providing up to 70% government funding for expenses such as booth rental and installation fees, and transportation costs when participating in overseas exhibitions and export consultation meetings.

In particular, the '2023 Export Consortium Project' expands support to include pre-dispatch stages and pre-B2B (business-to-business) marketing, aiming to enhance the outcomes of participation in overseas exhibitions (consultation meetings) through online video export consultations before the exhibition.

Eligible lead organizations for this project include industry-specific SME organizations such as small business cooperatives and associations, specialized trading companies, exhibition professional companies, and export-related institutions. Once the lead organizations and exhibitions (consultation meetings) are selected through this recruitment announcement, each lead organization will subsequently recruit SMEs to participate in each project.

Detailed recruitment announcements can be found on the Ministry of SMEs and Startups website (Announcements - Legal Information - Notices) and the SME Overseas Exhibition Portal.

Applications can be submitted online with all required documents through the 'SME Overseas Exhibition Portal' by the 30th. For further details, inquiries can be made to the Trade Promotion Department of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business.

Jeon Hyesook, head of the Trade Promotion Department at KSMB, stated, “As the world is normalizing overseas exhibitions with the transition to the with-COVID-19 era, the demand for exhibition participation by SMEs, which have faced difficulties in pioneering new overseas markets, is expected to increase significantly. We encourage active applications from interested small business cooperatives and industry-specific professional associations to help SMEs expand exports through competitive overseas exhibitions.”

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