nternational buyers turned their eyes
to Korea this week for the country’s
Global Partnering (GP) Korea 2016,
an event that helps Korea’s SMEs
enter the global value chain as a parts
supplier to foreign companies. Held on
Nov. 15-16 at the K-Hotel in Seoul, this
year’s GP Korea was held alongside the
Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s
Korea Materials & Components-Ppuri
Industry Week.
Organized by KOTRA, 243 domestic
SMEs and corporations of middle standing
had a chance to promote their products
to buyers in 1:1 partnering meetings.
57 major companies from all over the
world participated in GP Korea, including
big names like China’s Huawei Device,
Japan’s Hitachi High-Tech Materials and
India’s Minda Corporation. Over 600
consultations took place during the two-
day event, resulting in USD 23 million
worth of contracts and MOUs.
Most notably, China’s largest rolling
stock supplier CRRC took part in the
business consultation meetings. It discussed
supply agreements with domestic
railway part suppliers regarding highspeed
train installation technology and
railway equipment. In just the first half of
2016, CRRC saw its overseas orders
increase 126 percent to CNY 14.9 billion
(USD 2.2 billion). As the overseas highspeed
train industry continues to expand,
the company attended the event to look
for relevant Korean suppliers in this field.
One particular company that was eager
to partner up with Korean companies was
China’s Huawei Device, a leading global
information and communications technol-
ogy (ICT) solutions provider. Driven by
ongoing innovation and open collaboration,
Huawei has managed to establish a
competitive ICT portfolio in China and
beyond. “The smartphone is no longer just
a device; it’s a solution that connects the
digital world to real life. Korea is known
for its electronics and smartphones, and
we hope to work with Korean companies
that can offer us cutting-edge technologies”,
says Leostone, Marketing Manager
of Huawei Device.
Together with 1:1 business consultations,
the GP Consulting Hall was operated
on-site to resolve grievances of domestic
companies and provide useful information.
For SMEs nearing contract signing,
in particular, the Consulting Hall provided
fruitful discussion on financing, techno-
logical guidance and overseas certification acquisition. As part of government efforts to deliver customized public services and generate new jobs in a creative manner, an initiative also known as ‘Government 3.0’, K-Sure, Korea
Electronics Technology Institute, Korea
Testing & Research Institute and Korea
Institute for Advancement of Technology
participated in the event to resolve any
challenges facing domestic companies.
Also noteworthy is the fact that
Austria’s seven global corporations took
part in GP Korea, as they hoped to pursue
joint research and development (R&D)
projects with domestic SMEs. Ubimet, a
weather forecasts provider for Formula 1
competitions, signed an MOU with DIGIPARTS
for the joint development of automobile
navigation software. APEX
Engineering, a material technology company,
also signed an MOU with T4L and
agreed to jointly develop carbon fiber
reinforced plastic products. To further
spur cooperation in the field of R&D, the
International Cooperation R&D Forum provided an insider’s look at the various funding that organizations in Korea and Europe could apply for. Dooyoung Kim, KOTRA’s Executive Vice President of Strategic Marketing, said “Despite sluggish exports, domestic parts and materials companies can increase their exports and enter local markets by making joint R&D efforts with overseas corporations. I hope that this year’s event will serve as a platform where domestic SMEs and companies of middle standing can upgrade their export performance through joint R&D with foreign companies.”
At Global Partnering Korea 2016,
we had a chance to interview Annika Roest, Purchaser from
UltraShip ApS. Here’s what she had to say about the event.
UltraShip started off in 2014. It’s a division below the Danish company Ultragas, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sociedad Ultranav Limitada, which is the shipowning/ operating unit of the family owned Ultramar Group of Santiago, Chile. The company deals with the operation of gas vessels.
We came out here to get to know Korean suppliers to extend our network. We’re looking for companies that can provide parts for gas vessels, which
include things like valves and engine
parts. We also just signed an agreement
with Korean suppliers at an MOU ceremony
during this event. But most of all,
we’re hoping to establish long-term,
meaningful partnerships through GP
Korea.
GP Korea is a good event because we
get to know companies we might not have
a chance to get to know. But I think some
improvements could be made because
there were some companies that didn’t
match what we were looking for. I think it
would be a good idea to have more background
information on the potential partners
before meeting them.
We already do business in Korea so
we’re well aware that Korean companies offer goodquality products. We also receive products from the country very quickly and the companies here offer very good prices. Overall, we’re very pleased when it comes to doing with Korean companies.
We plan on attending a number of events in the future, and many of them are organized by KOTRA. There will be an event in Denmark next year hosted by KOTRA of a similar nature and we’re looking forward to participating and getting to more promising Korean companies through these meetings.