Park Jae-hyuk is a seasoned journalist who has provided comprehensive coverage of South Korea's corporate dynamics, economic policies, industry challenges and the global positioning of Korean companies. Based on the articles he has written since joining The Korea Times in 2016, his investigative approach has helped readers understand corporate governance, economic trends and business strategies shaping South Korea’s economy.
KOTRA, E-mart promote consumer goods in Vietnam
Korean business officials talk with Vietnamese buyers during a consumer product fair hosted by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) at the InterContinental Asiana Saigon in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Friday. / Courtesy of KOTRA
By Park Jae-hyuk
By Park Jae-hyuk
The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) is holding promotional events for Korean consumer goods with E-mart in several Vietnamese cities.
The first event ㅡ from Friday to Sunday ㅡ is in Vietnam’s biggest city, Ho Chi Minh City.
Collaborating with Lazada, Southeast Asia’s top online retailer, they are offering export counseling and promoting Korean goods at the InterContinental Asiana Saigon and E-mart Go Vap branch, respectively.
KOTRA said 50 Korean retailers, including B2Link, and 200 Vietnamese buyers, including Coopfood, visited the fair for business counseling on the first day.
At its first Vietnam branch, E-mart is promoting about 1,000 Korean goods that are sold through the Lazada online mall and a store established in Vietnam by the Small and Medium Business Corporation of Korea.
The discount chain said it will also donate 1,300 cycle helmets to children of multicultural families, because 50 percent of traffic accidents involving child injuries occur without helmets in Vietnam.
“The E-mart Vietnam store is important for our global businesses and for exports of our affiliated small and medium-sized enterprises,” E-mart CEO Lee Gap-su said, Friday. “As the No. 1 discount chain in Korea, we decided to host the event with the government in order to support the exports of affiliates and to share our knowhow with them.”
From Nov. 30 to Dec. 1, another Korean goods exhibition will be held in Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital. About 70 Korean businesses that sell cosmetics, food and household items will meet 370 buyer firms from Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries.
KOTRA said sales promotions of artistic products and online malls also are scheduled.
“Based on stable economic growth and the Korean wave, more of the middle class of Vietnam are looking to Korean consumer goods,” KOTRA CEO Kim Jae-hong said. “KOTRA will take various businesses there in new ways to boost sales of cosmetics, foods and household items which are expected to benefit from the Korea-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement.”
Korea exported $26.4 billion worth of products to Vietnam as of Oct. 2016, according to KOTRA. The country became Korea’s fourth-largest export market after China, the U.S. and Hong Kong and the scale of exports seems to keep growing, thanks to the country’s large population, stable economic growth and the Korean wave.