South Korea’s domestically-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been urged to look overseas in an effort to achieve a trade target of US$2trn.
Yoon Hyo-choon from the SME Globalization Support Center of Korea's Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) has spoken about the organisation’s ambitious trade target after recent figures revealed South Korea became the world's eighth-largest trading country last year.
Speaking to the Korea IT Times, he said that although exports are on the way up, SMEs - which make up 99% of all Korean enterprises in number and workers - accounted for just one-third of the export total. He said: "In this regard, the centre will work diligently to actively foster domestic sales-oriented SMEs as new exporters and encourage existing SME exporters to expand their overseas sales."
KOTRA is looking to move provincial-based SMEs into overseas markets by implementing a new system offering advice on export-related difficulties. In the first half of this year more than 800 SMEs received services from KOTRA and a proportion of those companies successfully advanced into overseas markets. Among the most successful projects is the Export Gateway programme, which enables SMEs to utilise overseas KOTRA trade centres as their offices for a small fee, as well as providing tailored advice to companies with an annual export of less than US$500,000.
For companies looking to expand into international markets, TMF Group has offices stationed in South Korea and across the world where our dedicated staff can help with the paperwork burden of international moves. With accounting, legal and HR and payroll staff globally, we can take care of the details, leaving you free to focus on your global ambitions.