Buy Korea 2009 Autumn is on its way with a larger scale, more global buyers and an extra day than the one held in January. From September 17-18, 700 buyers from twenty different countries overseas will be at booths to meet Korean companies. “Buy Korea 2009 in January was a huge success,” Lee Kyoo-nam, director general of the Major Industry and Component division at KOTRA said. “While most exhibitions are set in the opposite concept where the buyers have to walk around the hall to meet exhibitors, 700 buyers take a seat at the booths to see what a company has gotten to show. Opportunities like this is quite rare to find.”
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Buy Korea 2009 Autumn will be held in Ilsan, KINTEX to host more booths with more room. A section of the hall will host about 100 exhibition booths as well. This year, KOTRA invited 10 companies from Gaeseong Industrial Complex. “We all know that Gaeseong Industrial Complex has been struggling until now due to the impact of political issues between North and South. The participation of ten companies from Gaeseong Industrial Complex signifies a fair trade opportunity we, as KOTRA, try to provide. We selected ten of Gaeseong Industrial Complex whose products are highly competitive.”
Spacious hall means an increase in exhibition booths as well. The exhibition zone will take up a section of the whole with 100 participating companies. Cyber conference rooms will also take up a section of the hall. Twenty booths for the cyber conference will be available for those who couldn’t make it to the event physically.
“We have already arranged a decent number of appointments between the buyers and Korean companies. We are still accepting the participants ’meeting requests with a particular buyer or a company," Mr. Lee stated. “More global buyers will come this time from machineries, auto parts, and telecommunication. BMW and Telephonica are only the beginning of the global buyer lists."
As well as KOTRA choosing the high potential buyers out of many who showed interest before sending out invitations, Korean companies who registered to join had to go through KOTRA’s rigorous certification process. KOTRA started to stamp Seals of Excellence to those brands that are highly reliable. Coming to Buy Korea 2009 Autumn will be a great opportunity to meet Seal of Excellence products as well as World-Class Products that the Ministry of Knowledge and Economy certified.
From Buy Korea 2009 in January, 100 million dollars worth of contracts were made due to its effects. More contract meetings are expected to be made this time. “We have selected the companies from various areas. Some from Green, some from New Renewable Energy, the others from auto parts, and so on. Some might say those companies who fall in New Growth Engine category are less likely to sign a deal. But last January showed a surprise where the global leading wind system manufacturer like Vestas signed a successful deal with Korean companies.”
“Marketing is a trademark of KOTRA. Our goal is to excel at our duty to show the outcome beyond an expectation,”Director General Lee Kyoo-nam continued, “KOTRA is the national trade promotion organization where hosts various events all around a year. When foreign companies wants to make business with Korea, KOTRA is the fastest and the most secured way to reach out for help. By contacting local KBC around the globe, highly reliable information can be provided at request.”
An event like this directly linked to the future investment. “Buy Korea is an event where the foreign buyers can come and start sourcing in the most effective way. This is an opportunity where a single buyer can meet more than 15 companies within 8 hours a day, two days in a row. This is the best way to save time and money in buyer’s point of view. We do hope to host more buyers each year, and in order to do so, we are trying to settle Buy Korea as an annual event that holds every January,” Director General Lee Kyoo-nam concluded.
The Ministry of Knowledge Economy and KOTRA provide accommodations to the buyers who come to the Buy Korea 2009. Be paid to come and meet dozens of companies in two days!
