The Spanish explorers’ 1492 voyage came at a critical time of growing national imperialism and economic competition between developing nation states seeking wealth from the establishment of trade routes and colonies. In the time of the global economic recession we face today, the length of merchants and distributors’ footsteps worldwide determines the bright future of the country’s economy. Various distributors attended Buy Korea 2009 from all around the world with open minds to meet with the merchants of Korea.

Buyers, suppliers, distributors, entrepreneurs, and manufacturers all gathered at Atlantic Hall on January 14 in COEX in Seoul, Korea. Under the organization of KOTRA, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy provided airfare subsidies for one person per company and two-night accommodations at a 5-star hotel for one representative from each company. With sponsorship and organization, 700 foreign buyers were spotted on site at Atlantic Hall on January 14 and 500 buyers carried out business meetings online via video chat at cybermartkorea.com/kopen from January 14-16. Some merchants or distributors came in search of new business opportunities in IT related products, while the others came to serve their role as “master of one yet also the jack of all trades” who are not only specialized in a specific area, but also open to any goods with a strong potential in the global market.

Kauser International Trading is been an active distributor which has bought lenses and camera accessories from Camera Bank in Korea, but since most of the factories and manufacturers moved to first Japan then to China, the import and export rates have been reduced. However, Hussein Ali Kamruddin says the circumstances are not critical enough to discourage a trading relationship with Korea. He recalled: “The last time people who were supplying me with camera bags also wanted to import medical products from the UK as well. So we supplied them with their special request, then they asked me to supply them with antiseptic soap. We supplied them antiseptic soap under the name Kauser. The deal went on until 2001 when the owner of the company passed away.”

Due to the economic recession worldwide and professional prediction of a cloudy future in the trading market in 2009, many are seeking the way out of this crisis. Reduction in the value of the won and removal of manufacturing centers to China froze Korean industry with fear for survival in the New Year. The event floor of Buy Korea 2009 not only provided hope to 3000 domestic export companies by having 700 buyers on the booth seats waiting to meet a new market, but it also gave an opportunity for them to meet people who could encourage the buyers with stories from history.

Hussein said: “My philosophy is that you can be both a buyer and a seller. In Europe, there is a market called the parallel market. For example, Kodak has an office in the UK. If the Kodak UK’s price is too high, UK retail shops seek to make a very small extra profit by buying it from another country that has the product at a lower price. In 1967, the pound started to reduce its value by 27%. At that time, we were selling Kodak film from the UK to many countries mainly including the United States. We found that the price was cheaper in Japan because Kodak was trying to establish a business in Japan and they had to compete against Fuji. We bought from Japan and sold to Belgium. Belgium sold to Holland. And Holland sold to the United States. This is the definition of a parallel market.”

The huge event floor echoed with the enthusiasm of the attendees under a simple method of business: buying and selling. Interviewing the attendees at Buy Korea 2009 showed one thing in common: open minded merchants and explorers circulate in the global economy.

“Buildings and facilities, infrastructure and utilities, and transportation systems; these are related to materials and stuff that we sell,” President Thompson said. “I’m trying to recruit manufacturers over here since I’m in America.” Since the establishment of his company in 1982, his motivation for business trips was to be able to find new markets. “If you know somebody in this country, and you know somebody in the US, that’s a new market you can enter right there. We are open for both import and export because we have long before made our decision to serve our customers outside the US and inside the US. We have goods coming in, and we have goods that we can ship. Events like this help us to share information and find a market we can give and take.”

President Frankie Thompson (www.frankiethompson.com) from America was also a distributor and industrial supplier who came to Korea with a special mission. According to President Thompson, forming a strong relationship between countries and both regular and potential business partners is the most challenging yet essential strategy to survive in the jungle of trading business. “I was invited to come to this event three years ago when the representative of the Miami office, Jae-won, invited me. I decided to come back this year and I have no doubt that I made the right decision. I am very happy to be here since there is a new market to enhance and grow and there is a new relationship that we can form. For example, we just met this company called LG Cable and we were thrilled to seek ways to collaborate and work in partnership.”

Managing Director Murray Meltzer of Bibtech Pty Ltd. in Australia was fully satisfied with the events and happy to meet possible business partners. “I thought the event itself was very well organized and the Pre-conference that was held yesterday was very helpful.”

Not every buyer came to import the goods that were Korea’s forte. There were the buyers like Rasmus Fog Jorgensen, a technical managing advisor from Procom, in Denmark, who came to find out where the Korean market and technology level is, and to see where the market is moving. He attended Buy Korea 2009 in expectation of meeting and hanging out with interesting suppliers in Korea to build relations with possible business partners, and to introduce them to his vendor in Europe.

“We are specializing in international radio communication products, emergency services, and so on. We’re doing a lot of products that have security communications, between people on the ground and people on ships doing emergency services. We are especially looking for possible business partners who can subsidize some of our systems and supply small parts that go into large-scale private projects,” he explained. Unfortunately, the parts Procom is seeking to be supplied by Korea are not exactly the strongest area of Korean technology. “We are seeking small parts that go into power devices, amplifiers, and basically everything you can put into a communications net. Cars, ships, and emergency equipment, to name a few.”

Companies and governments who are seeking to find a new growth industry that is not a part of Korea’s saturated market could meet with advisors like Rasmus to find a new area of challenge.

The event floor of Buy Korea 2009, therefore, was a Distributor Rally that could enhance both the export and import market. For a Korea that was expecting a reduction in both the export and import market in 2009, the event was definitely a candy bar that saved the day with the sweetness of sugary hope.