KOTRA Expands Consortium-Type ICT Export Support Project

Consortium Model Emerges in Overseas DX Projects

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Pyeonghwa] As global 'Digital Transformation (DX)' projects increase, consortium-type export models through collaboration among information and communication technology (ICT) companies are emerging. The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) plans to expand support projects for ICT exports in the form of consortia.

KOTRA announced on the 10th that as a result of conducting the '2022 ICT Export Consortium Support Project,' which supports consortium-type entry into overseas ICT projects that are difficult for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to secure alone, a total of 15 contracts worth 32 million dollars were achieved from 9 consortia.

Last year, in the ICT Export Consortium Support Project, 42 SMEs in the fields of smart cities, security, 5th generation mobile communication (5G), smart farms, and artificial intelligence (AI) formed 14 consortia and received support from KOTRA's overseas trade offices. Among them, 9 consortia achieved export contracts and signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs).

[Image provided by KOTRA]

Based on these results, KOTRA emphasized that consortium-type entry is a promising approach to winning global ICT projects. They also pointed out that the background of these achievements lies in experts carefully selecting promising projects through thorough screening and providing close support for orders and contracts over several months via KOTRA's overseas trade offices.

KOTRA plans to expand the scale and scope of support to respond to ICT convergence projects ordered by government agencies in various countries. This year, the support project will be organized as a platform-type involving related institutions by specialized fields and ICT service companies. The number of supported consortia will increase to about 20. The support areas will also expand to include service-based software (SaaS) smart farms, smart factories, and digital healthcare.

Jung Wooyoung, Head of KOTRA's Innovation Growth Headquarters, said, “For K-digital exports, it is necessary for our companies to enter the market in a collaborative form as ‘ICT One Team Korea.’ KOTRA will join forces with related ICT export institutions to actively support winning overseas projects.”

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