Lotte Homeshopping Hosts 'Korea Brand Expo' in the Middle East, a New Hub for Hallyu

From the 30th, a three-day event in Riyadh and Dubai
50 overseas buyers and Dubai Outlet Mall MDs participating
Korean Wave cultural performances and Korean culture experience programs included

Lotte Homeshopping announced on the 28th that, together with the Korea Federation of SMEs and Agricultural-Fishery Cooperation Foundation, it will hold the 'Korea Brand Expo' export consultation event to support the overseas expansion of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from the 30th of this month to the 2nd of next month in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The Korea Brand Expo was launched in 2016 as part of Lotte Homeshopping's win-win program to help domestic SMEs enter overseas markets. This year, the company explained that following the 2022 event held simultaneously online and offline in Korea and Dubai, it has expanded the event again in the Middle East at the request of SMEs. At the 2022 event, the onsite contract amount pursued by participating companies was $9.47 million, and the consultation performance reached $79.8 million. Lotte Homeshopping will sequentially hold the event in two locations, Riyadh and Dubai, to provide participating companies with opportunities to attract buyers from the Middle East and conduct market research.

Lotte Homeshopping simultaneously held the "Korea Brand Expo" online and offline in Korea and Dubai in 2022. The photo shows a Korean Wave cultural performance taking place at a local shopping mall in Dubai. Photo by Lotte Homeshopping

The Middle East is considered a stable consumer market due to its so-called 'oil money.' Recently, K-content has rapidly gained popularity, especially among the younger generation, and preference for Korean brands such as K-beauty is increasing. Accordingly, the trade volume between the three major Middle Eastern countries (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar) and Korea reached $83 billion in 2022, a 63% increase compared to the previous year ($50.9 billion), showing a growing trend in trade volume.

The event will be held in Riyadh on the 30th and in Dubai on the 2nd of next month. One hundred excellent domestic SMEs, 50 buyers from the Middle East, and the MD of the world's largest Dubai outlet mall will participate in the consultation event. It will be an opportunity to explore entry into overseas distribution markets through one-on-one export consultations, providing know-how on product listing, and product localization consulting. A showcase event exhibiting about 100 products from domestic SMEs will also be held.

From the 31st for two days, in connection with Saudi Arabia's winter festival 'Riyadh Season,' a product promotion event, K-pop cultural performances, and Korean cultural experience programs will be held at 'The Boulevard Riyadh City,' the largest entertainment complex in the region. A 4-meter sculpture of the popular character 'Bellygom,' which has a global fandom of 1.7 million, will also be installed to support the promotion of K-content and the products of participating companies.

Kim Jae-kyum, CEO of Lotte Homeshopping, said, "Following 2022, we are holding the export consultation event for SMEs to pioneer overseas markets in the Middle East, where there is a high preference for K-consumer goods due to the Korean Wave. As a variety of products from excellent domestic SMEs representing K-brands will be introduced, we hope many successful cases of entry into the Middle East will emerge."

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