KITA Signs MOU with GSMA for Mutual Cooperation in Startup Platforms

by Jang Bokyeong

Published 05 Mar.2026 11:00(KST)

Promotion of Joint Conferences and Launch of Exchange Programs

The Korea International Trade Association announced on March 5 that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) for mutual cooperation and joint business promotion in the startup platform sector at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2026, the world's largest mobile communications exhibition, held in Barcelona, Spain, on the 4th local time.

On the 4th, at the Fira Gran Via Exhibition Center in Barcelona, Spain, Inho Lee, Executive Vice Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association (left), and John Hoffman, CEO of the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), posed for a commemorative photo after signing a memorandum of understanding for mutual cooperation and joint business promotion between NextRise and 4YFN. Korea International Trade Association

This agreement was established to build a strategic partnership between the two organizations' respective innovation startup exhibitions and conferences, 'NextRise' and '4YFN (4 Years From Now),' and to explore mid- to long-term avenues for collaboration. Since 2019, the Korea International Trade Association, together with Korea Development Bank, has been hosting NextRise, the largest startup event in Asia. GSMA, the host of MWC, has been operating 4YFN, an event dedicated to startups, since 2014.

Through this agreement, the two organizations plan to gradually expand specific areas of cooperation, including: promoting a joint NextRise-4YFN conference; launching new startup-investor exchange programs; and co-hosting open innovation meetup events. In particular, they intend to establish a complementary cooperation system that leverages their global networks to support mutual market entry for Korean and European startups.

Inho Lee, Executive Vice Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association, stated, "This partnership is significant in that it lays the groundwork for an innovation ecosystem connecting Korea and Europe. We will concentrate our efforts so that NextRise, through collaboration with GSMA, can become a global startup platform and provide tangible support for Korean startups to expand overseas."

During the MWC 4YFN period, the association operated a Korea Pavilion consisting of 20 promising domestic startups, offering a variety of investment attraction and networking programs such as pitching and meetups. Jongil Gong, CEO of the AI interpretation and translation startup SkonAI, which participated in the Korea Pavilion, commented, "We were able to discuss practical avenues for cooperation with global conglomerates that would have been difficult to approach as individual participants," sharing his impressions of the event.