Seoul City and Cosmetic Valley Join Hands in France to Foster and Expand 'K-Beauty'

Oh Se-hoon Meets Mark-Antoine Jamet, Chairman of 'Cosmetic Valley,' to Sign MOU
Establishes Comprehensive Plan for Seoul-Style Beauty Industry Development... Supports Market Access for Promising SMEs in Beauty Sector, Dongdaemun Hub Development

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Mayor Oh Se-hoon has taken steps to expand the overseas market potential of the K-Beauty industry and assist domestic beauty companies in their global expansion.

On the 23rd (local time), Mayor Oh met with Marc-Antoine Jamet, Chairman of the world-class beauty industry cluster 'Cosmetic Valley,' at the Korean Cultural Center in France to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) aimed at revitalizing the beauty industry. 'Cosmetic Valley' is the world's first industry-academia-research cluster network established in 1994 for the beauty industry. It includes over 100 French cosmetics companies such as Guerlain and Yves Saint Laurent, as well as members like Japan's Shiseido and Korea's Pacific Europe. The cluster supports business development and competitiveness enhancement through research and projects in the perfume and cosmetics industries.

Marc-Antoine Jamet, Chairman of Cosmetic Valley, is a leading figure in the French beauty and fashion industries, serving concurrently as Secretary General of the LVMH Group, the world's largest luxury fashion brand, and Vice President of the French Cosmetics Association (FEBEA).

This agreement was established to expand the overseas market potential of the domestic beauty industry, using France?the largest market for the beauty industry?as a base through exchanges between the two organizations. This comes as the domestic cosmetics industry has achieved its highest-ever export performance, ranking third in the world for two consecutive years. It also aims to build a cooperative foundation for industry professionals.

The main contents of the agreement include ▲ establishing a partnership between Seoul City and Cosmetic Valley to support promising beauty companies, ▲ promoting products and opening sales channels for participating companies through event linkage between ‘Cosmetic 360’ and ‘Seoul Beauty Week,’ and ▲ ongoing exchange and cooperation. Seoul City plans to focus its support on expanding overseas business opportunities for promising domestic beauty companies.

Meanwhile, prior to the agreement, Seoul City announced a comprehensive plan in April to foster the beauty industry, focusing on training field-oriented personnel and supporting various sales channel development projects to raise the awareness of small and medium-sized enterprises. The city is building the Dongdaemun area as a beauty fashion hub and is promoting the designation of the Dongdaemun Beauty and Fashion Special Development Promotion District.

Mayor Oh said, "Starting with France, we will strive to secure global sales channels to expand the overseas market entry of domestic companies in the beauty sector."

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