"Korean Businesspeople Gather"... Korea SMEs and Startups Agency, World Korean Business Kickoff Meeting

To Be Held from April 17 to 20

The Korea Federation of SMEs announced on the 4th that it held a kickoff meeting to prepare for the 23rd World Korean Business Convention.

The World Korean Business Convention is a global economic event where Korean entrepreneurs worldwide network and support the overseas expansion of domestic SMEs. This year’s convention will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, from April 17 to 20, under the slogan "Leap to the Hansang Economic Zone, Together with Hansang to the World and Future of SMEs!"

At the meeting, about 20 officials from the event’s organizing and hosting institutions attended, including Kim Ki-moon, Chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs and Convention Chairperson; Lee Sang-duk, Commissioner of the Overseas Koreans Foundation; Lee Kyung-chul, President of the Federation of Korean Associations, USA; and Son Hyun-duk, CEO of Maeil Business Newspaper. They agreed to establish a cooperative system by dividing roles among participating organizations for various forums (G2G, B2B, VC investment) held during the convention, the installation and operation of over 400 corporate exhibition booths, and promotion and marketing of the event. Additionally, to communicate with the new Trump administration, which is implementing high-tariff policies based on America First, they plan to invite economic officials from U.S. state governments to emphasize the importance of the Korea-U.S. alliance and the necessity of economic cooperation.

Meanwhile, prior to the meeting, Commissioner Lee of the Overseas Koreans Foundation, along with Chairman Kim of the Korea Federation of SMEs and President Lee of the Federation of Korean Associations, USA, visited the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (NongHyup) and appointed Kang Ho-dong, Chairman of NongHyup, as Honorary Convention Chairperson. The Korea Federation of SMEs and NongHyup will operate SME and NongHyup pavilions at the corporate exhibition and plan to support the entry of SMEs into the U.S. market, including K-Food, in the future.

Chairman Kim of the Korea Federation of SMEs said, "Last year, South Korea’s exports reached a record high of $683.6 billion, ranking 6th in the world, and notably, Korean cosmetics ranked first in the U.S. market, surpassing France and Japan, with 72% of those products being from SMEs." He added, "Through the 23rd World Korean Business Convention, overseas Korean entrepreneurs from around the world will utilize their networks to promote excellent Korean SME products and become local sales agents, making this the inaugural year for building the 'Hansang Economic Zone.'"

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