Chungcheongnam-do

▲ Sea Food Export Consultation Conference

Chungcheongnam-do’s moves for overseas export are garnering attention.


For 6 days and 7 nights from July 8th to 14th, the city of Nonsan dispatched a “2018 China Trade Delegation” comprising seven companies to Xi’an, Chongqing and Qingdao, China. This trade delegation dispatch project is an overseas marketing assistance project that provides local small and medium-sized companies that desire to expand into the global market opportunities for 1:1 customized consultation with foreign buyers and supports the costs required for such consultation in order to diversify exports and pioneer sales routes. 
 

The city focused on corporations with high global competitiveness and marketability and selected the 7 companies Dooridoori Co., Ltd., Feelgen Korea Co., Ltd., Samil Food, Bogo Shinyak Co., Ltd., Sungyeon Food Co., Ltd., Boram C&H Co., Ltd. and Haesunhwa. Through 1:1 customized consultation with foreign buyers and visitation counseling at local companies, the trade delegation carried out 129 export consultations, worth 70 billion KRW, and accomplished propulsion of contracts worth 14.5 billion KRW.

The city expects that the dispatch of the trade delegation would provide local SMEs in trouble due to the global economic recession and the weakened domestic market opportunities to prepare a foundation for entry into overseas markets and to increase exports, and also vitalize the local economy, securing new markets and energizing local companies as a role model for growth.
 

As the last delegation this year, the Small & Medium Business Corporation (SBC) Chungcheongnam-do Regional Headquarters visited Shanghai and Shenyang, China on a 4-day, 5-night trip from November 26th to 30th to conduct export counseling with local buyers carefully selected in advance. Small and medium enterprises whose headquarters or plants are located within Chungcheongnam-do, the 25 participating companies manufacture a variety of products without any item restrictions and have been chosen and dispatched based on their export potential including local marketability assessments.

They have been given support in the form of consultation sites, vehicle rental costs, interpretation fees, buyer liaison fees, etc. required for export consultation with local buyers and other marketing activities overseas. As China’s domestic consumption vitalization policies continue, sales in social consumables in 2017 was RMB 36,626.2 billion, an increase by at least 10% from the same time the previous year, and individual consumers’ buying power improves due to increases in income.

Also, the current trend of diversifying of consumption methods such as online platforms and direct purchases from overseas is expected to continuously expand opportunities for our SMEs to enter the Chinese market.   

On October 25th, Chungcheongnam-do hosted the “2018 Second Half Sea Food Export Consultation Conference” at the Ramada Encore Cheonan where the province achieved consultations for exports worth $14.5 million. Hosted by the province and ChungCheongNam-do Economic Promotion Agency, the conference offered assistance for sea food manufacturers based in the province through 1:1 export consultations, setting up a chance for them to increase the level of their company recognition and discover new foreign buyers.

At the conference, 10 Korean buyers who belong to the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Japan and China regional offices of World-OKTA (World Federation of Overseas Korean Traders Association), an organization with great purchasing power, were also invited. 20 companies from within the province, including 11 seasoned and dry laver manufacturers, 2 salt producers, 1 manufacturer each for sea trumpet, salted seafood and sea cucumbers, participated to showcase their outstanding sea food products.
 

As a result of the conference, consultations on exports worth $14.5 million were proceeded with for 20 businesses. For instance, Songwon Food, a producer of sea trumpets in Seosan, signed a contract worth about $30,000 with an Australian buyer, and confirming the sea trumpets’ potential for entry into the global market. Moreover, at the conference, ChungCheongNam-do Economic Promotion Agency installed controllers at the site to lead field consulting with SMEs, thus helping to increase exports by utilizing FTA, and it has received positive feedback from participants.


The province plans to host an on-demand export counseling session in the first half of next year and one for purchasing representatives of large distributors from the Chinese-speaking world in the latter half, continuing to expand export routes for the sea food produced in the province.