Bin Joonhwa, KOTRA Economic Diplomacy Division Diffusion Team Leader

On Oct. 29th, ‘a tour of the country of utilization of summit diplomatic was held' in the meeting room of the Gyeongnam provincial government. This is 8th tour, followed by Ansan, Daegu, Daejeon and so on. About 100 people attended the briefing session and showed great interest in utilizing the summit diplomatic economy. Gyeongnam Provincial Export Administration Center representative in Gyeongnam province was surprised by the enthusiastic interest of corporations, saying that the largest number of companies attended the recent information sessions held in Changwon. Since the inauguration of President Park Geun-hye, there has been a great change in the president's overseas trip. Previously, when the president of the company was accompanied mainly by large corporations, President Park began to accompany SMEs to the round trip delegation. The President's economic diplomacy has been a very good opportunity for our small business to utilize. A total of 41 companies visited the US in May 2013, of which 58.5% (24 companies) accounted for small- and medium-sized companies. This ratio increased to 83.9% (115 companies) in the US in October 2015, two years later. As the participation of SMEs and midsize companies increased, in March 2015, the Mideast Economic Mission of the Middle East started to hold a 1: 1 business meeting in addition to existing business forums to create substantial business results for SMEs. Small- and medium-sized companies with low awareness of overseas brands, compared to large-scale corporations with famous brands, can achieve reliability and image synergy by participating in economic missions that accompany the president. In addition, since it is a normal tour, it is an opportunity to talk with a buyer who is large and has high credit. Particularly, there are many key personnel with decision-making authority who participate in the consultation, so that the business is fast and the performance is easy.

A briefing session of the local economy tour, which was held at the Central Government Office in Changwon, Gyeongsang Province on 29th, last month, more than 100 people from small and medium-sized enterprises showed high interest in utilizing the normal diplomatic economy.

The summit meeting for exploiting the summit diplomatic economy was planned to inform and invite the summit diplomatic missions of local small and medium enterprises. As a result of holding regional tour explanations for exploiting the normal diplomatic economy in eight regions, it was clear that local companies were less aware of the normal diplomatic economy utilization portals and economic missions than those in the metropolitan area. However, there were quite a number of companies that were interested in the economic mission after hearing the briefing. I would expect to see more companies that can take advantage of diplomacy and actively use overseas diplomacy to spread their wings to foreign companies by informing and informing local companies more about their opinions. If you are interested in taking advantage of the normal diplomatic economy, please search for "top diplomacy" in the search box right now. ※ This column & interview contents are content posted and shared on Policy Briefing (www.korea.kr) website