Gyeonggi Business Center Leads $38 Million Export Amid COVID-19

[Suwon Ilbo=Park No-hun Reporter] The Gyeonggi Business Center (GBC), which has strengthened non-face-to-face and online functions to break through blocked export channels due to COVID-19, is becoming a reliable backbone for enterprises in the province exploring overseas markets.

According to Gyeonggi Province on the 30th, through Gyeonggi Business Centers in 14 overseas locations including Shanghai, China and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, the province has conducted a total of 1,162 online export consultations and achieved export contracts worth approximately $38 million (as of the end of October 2020).

Since the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak, the center actively reflected corporate opinions and introduced an 'online video conferencing system' that enables constant export consultations, providing comprehensive support to smoothly conduct all stages of transactions from buyer negotiations to product demonstrations and contract processes.

Additionally, the center has enabled office spaces within the center to be utilized as 'smart offices' so that business people whose activities were restricted locally due to lockdowns in various countries could swiftly conduct business without disruption, while providing the latest market trends.

Moreover, based on the capabilities of GBC staff members who are local marketing experts, the center has continuously supported enterprises by understanding corporate and product characteristics and providing consulting and interpretation services.

In April, the center supported export channels for textile enterprises in the province that shifted to producing 'fashion masks' to turn the COVID-19 crisis into an opportunity, playing a solid role in crisis response.

Particularly reflecting the trend of export landscapes diversifying into direct sales forms combined with online distribution after COVID-19, the center is focusing on capturing the attention of overseas consumers through listings on famous local online shopping malls such as Amazon, Tmall, and Shopee.

As an example, 'C' Company, an air purifier manufacturer based in Gwangju, successfully listed on 'Taobao,' the online platform of Alibaba Group, China's largest shopping company, with support from GBC Chongqing, signaling its entry into the Chinese market.

The Gyeonggi Business Center plans to devote efforts to developing various online sales channels including live commerce and support for listings on famous overseas online malls.

Through this, the center aims to not only continue existing buyer-focused marketing support but also further activate online B2C (Business to Customer) marketing targeting local consumers.

In particular, the center plans to accelerate diversification of export channels by capturing the Chinese live commerce market, which is showing explosive growth with a market size of 971.2 billion yuan (approximately 165 trillion won in Korean currency) and 370 million viewers.

Ryu Kwang-ryul, Director of the Economic Affairs Bureau, stated, "We are mobilizing all capabilities to help small and medium-sized enterprises in the province overcome the crisis by proactively responding to the changing export environment due to COVID-19" and added, "Based on GBC's export network and expertise, we will serve as a local branch for enterprises and do our best to develop markets at the forefront of exports."