KITA Held the Largest “Video Conference for Export with Big Buyers” Ever

- 332 buyers from 34 countries participated in “Korea Grand Sourcing Fair 2020” -

- Moscow Exhibition and Export Consultation, Export Consultations with K-quarantine Supplies Exporters, Food Week, etc. took place simultaneously -

The Korea International Trade Association (Chairman: Kim Young-ju) hosted “The 13^th Korea Grand Sourcing Fair” at COEX in Samseong-dong on November 25^th.

The event took place for two days and had invited 332 global big buyers from 34 countries, which recorded as the largest Korea Grand Sourcing Fair ever, and organized 1:1 online video meetings with over 600 Korean export companies with a view to helping out the trade industry suffering from an unprecedented crisis due to the spread of COVID-19. The major buyers, including a global distributor Walmart, China’s Miniso which operates over 1,800 household products stores all over the world, a representative e-commerce company of Southeast Asia Shoppy, Indonesia’s largest telecommunication provider Telcom Indonesia, and the largest fresh fruit distributor in Thailand Bakamon Food, participated in the event. 

Especially this year, in order to restore stagnant export vitality, the government and related organizations teamed up and scaled up this event to a comprehensive marketing event. To support Korean companies' expansion into the New Northern region, “Moscow Exhibition and Export Consultation” was held simultaneously to commemorate the 30^th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Russia, and video conferences were conducted between 55 Russian buyers and 42 Korean companies. In addition, various events such as video conferences for participating companies at the COEX Seoul Food Week , export consultations with K-quarantine supplies exporters, including masks and medical supplies, and export consultations between specialized trading firms and overseas Korean buyers, and start-up export consultations that took place during the same period were combined.

Furthermore, the event promoted Korean products as well as K-wave by utilizing YouTube and social media (SNS). In partnership with 13 influencers from 7 countries, including China, Vietnam, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates, they promoted 49 Korean products to 26 million followers worldwide through livestreaming via social media. During the livestreaming, a link to the product detail page was exposed so that local consumers interested in the product were able to conveniently purchase it. The videos are provided to Korean companies free of charge for future marketing purposes. In addition, the best local speakers recommended by each overseas branch of the Korea International Trade Association delivered speeches on the current status of the global market and marketing strategies in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic at regional export strategy seminars.

This Grand Sourcing Fair was a total event of various types of contact-free video conferences held by the Korea Trade Association at least once a week since the outbreak of COVID-19. The premium companies that have been well-prepared for export, such as brand K companies, and the businesses that have been well received by buyers participated in the event and significant results were expected.

Kim Hyun-chul, head of the Global Marketing Group at KITA, said, “The association's all marketing capabilities were mobilized to make this year's Grand Sourcing Fair an opportunity to overcome the COVID-19 crisis,” and added, “We will continue to provide substantial support so that participating Korean companies will be able to create practical results.”