Supporting 'Beauty and Food' Export SMEs... Popup Stores and Consulting Services Provided

Ministry of SMEs and Startups Calls for Participants in 'K-Strategic Items Awards'
Final Selection of Around 15 Companies After 1st and 2nd Round Evaluations

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 9th that it will begin recruiting participating companies for the ‘K-Strategic Items Awards,’ which selects and supports outstanding export small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the beauty and food sectors in collaboration with Shinsegae DF and E-Mart, starting from the 10th.

The permanent beauty store for small business owners, "Dugeun Dugeun," which opened last August at Vincom Mega Mall Royal City in Hanoi, Vietnam [Photo provided by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups]

K-Strategic Items are sectors experiencing increased global demand due to the popularity of the Korean Wave. This time, the ministry has designated two major strategic items: the beauty sector, including cosmetics, which is the top export item among SMEs, and the food sector, which has recorded record-high exports in the global market led by ramen, snacks, beverages, and frozen gimbap.

For companies selected in the beauty sector K-Strategic Items, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and Shinsegae DF plan to collaborate to provide support. This is also part of the ‘K-Beauty 100-UP Project,’ a government-private partnership aimed at globalizing K-beauty SMEs. Shinsegae DF will assist selected companies by operating pop-up stores at Shinsegae Duty Free, offering export strategy consulting, and promoting them both online and offline.

For companies selected in the food sector K-Strategic Items, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and E-Mart will collaborate to provide export strategy consulting and pop-up store operations utilizing domestic and overseas stores and distribution networks.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups also plans to link all selected companies in the beauty and food K-Strategic Items sectors to export support projects such as participation in overseas exhibitions, promotional marketing, and export vouchers.

The evaluation process is divided into a first-round document review and a second-round product evaluation meeting. In the document review, a total of 100 companies?50 each from the beauty and food sectors?will be selected. Then, companies that pass the document review will participate in a product evaluation meeting involving MDs from partner companies, and approximately 15 companies per sector will be finally selected. In December, the ‘K-Strategic Items Awards’ will be held with the selected companies, featuring a business-to-consumer (B2C) event and an awards ceremony for consumers.

Eligible participants include all SMEs possessing cosmetics, beauty devices (beauty sector), and food products (food sector). There is no export amount limit. The recruitment period is from the 10th to the 25th. Detailed information can be found in the ‘K-Strategic Items Awards’ recruitment announcement on the Ministry of SMEs and Startups website.

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