INCHEON, KOREA – From May 17 to 18, ITC 2012 Overseas Buyer Trade Meeting, the largest of its kind in Korea, was held at Songdo Convensia, Incheon. The exhibition extended invitations to IT and relevant SW convergence companies as well as buyers from Korea and abroad.
ICT 2012 is hosted by Incheon Metropolitan City and Ministry of Knowledge Economy, and co-organized by Incheon IT Promotion Agency, Ansan IT Industry Promotion Agency, Anyang Knowledge Industry Promotion Agency, Goyang Industry Promotion Agency, and Digital Industry Promotion Agency of Yongin City.
This event invited more than 100 influential buyers representing 83 companies from 18 countries in IT and device/machinery parts fields to set up one-on-one business-matching export consultation with over 150 Korean companies. The purpose for this was to expand overseas markets for relevant small and medium size businesses.
Particularly, foreign buyers who would be optimal as a bridge for such endeavors included China Telecom and China Unicom, which are the two largest telecommunication companies in China, as well as other Chinese companies like Haier, Changhong, and Kongka. Other potential matches include Norma, a Russian computer parts distributor, Eurostar, a large distributor in Middle East, Indiabulls, the largest real estate firm in India, IIFL, a leading brokerage in India, and ABM Federal, the largest federal IT supplier in the US.
Notably, the online matching system was a large success, finding correct matches for one-on-one consultation between companies and potential buyers, and nearly 770 sessions were held during the two days. Also, unlike conventional export consultation, there were small exhibition booths designed for buyers to visit and witness the company demonstrate their products.
“The online matching system enables efficient consultation that will increase the likelihood of a deal between buyers and companies,” an official for the event explained. “It will also maximize marketing results as companies are able to demonstrate their products during the consultation.”
Throughout the first day of the event, on the 17th, export consultation and showcasing were conducted. Most buyers invited from overseas seem satisfied with how the consultation and showcasing organized.
“We purchase essential components from Korean companies and utilize them to manufacture complete products in the U.S. Korea has an advantage over other countries in terms of quality and price. We are also supplied from Chinese companies, but Korean companies are generally more reliable and trustworthy. Honestly, our expectations were not overly high prior to arriving here. However, we were completely amazed at the logistics here – everything from communications, hotel bookings, schedules with sellers, booklets, timing and even free translators. I was impressed with the efforts of the secretariats and translators in terms of studying and being knowledgeable regarding the information of buyers and sellers before hand in order to match them well,” told Mr. Rafiq Khan, President of Architectural Visual Solution.
“We try to find new technologies to introduce to Middle East and African customers. We have already discovered a few interesting companies, and plan to sign a contract with two of them. We are very satisfied with this exhibition. While other forums worldwide focus on sellers, this is a forum designed for buyers,” said Mr. Gurpreet, Executive Director of Singh Bahra of Pan Intellecom JLT, a distributor of Delta Electronics for professional display solutions in the Middle East and Africa.
BRICs DAY
On the 18th, BRICs DAY helped buyers from emerging economies find potential new partners. BRICs DAY invited companies and international purchasers from a variety of markets including Russia, Brazil, India, and China, with huge territories and abundant underground resources, in order to encourage Korean SMBs to enter these countries. It provided a great opportunity for them to get further acquainted with these four emerging countries which have demonstrated impressive growth rates since 2000 with rapid increase of market demand and purchasing power.
All companies participating in the consultation were provided with booths and other costs including participation fees. In particular companies arriving from Incheon received additional support after the exhibition such as funds for overseas marketing.
ITC 2012 also explains that they are planning to operate various B2B support programs following the event as well to continue helping SMBs achieve positive results from the consultation.
Meanwhile, a lecture on the strategies required to enter the European market was held on May 18 for relevant companies to learn more regarding the expertise and latest information on the market as well as how to take advantage of the FTA.
