Busan is good

Busan Companies’ Global Partner, Overseas Trade Offices: Full-Scale Rollout of Tailored On-the-Ground Support

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□ Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that it has produced tangible results—such as local online and offline market entry and successful export contracts for Busan-based companies—through its five Overseas Trade Offices established in key cities that serve as core hubs for economic and diplomatic activities.

○ In 2025, the Overseas Trade Offices supported a total of 1,165 overseas marketing activities, including research on overseas markets and buyers, product promotion and marketing, interpretation and translation, and support for participation in overseas exhibitions. This led to a record-high export contract performance of $179 million (approximately KRW 256.7 billion), representing a 10% increase year-on-year.

□ Busan Metropolitan City operates the Overseas Trade Offices as practical bases tailored to the trade environment of each region, providing close support across trade for Busan-based companies, including export capacity building, local marketing, and responses to trade regulations.

○ In 2025, amid rapidly changing global trade conditions, meaningful results were achieved through close collaboration between the Overseas Trade Offices and Busan-based companies.
○ The Japan office provided customized support—such as market research and nationwide business trips—to a steel wire manufacturing company (Company C) that had participated in an export consultation meeting in 2017, helping it achieve exports of $452,000 in 2025.
○ For a company (Company D) that participated in a trade mission for shipbuilding equipment and materials in China, the office supported procedures for mandatory certifications required for exports to China, leading to export results of $90,000.
○ A seafood processing company (Company B), a tenant of the Qingdao Corporate Business Room (moved in during 2025), succeeded in its first overseas export to Vietnam worth $40,000 after receiving support to verify buyers. The company said, “Thanks to the Overseas Trade Office, we were able to communicate smoothly with local business partners, which was a great help.”

Key Characteristics and Strategies by Office
United States (LA): Connecting the Korean Wave boom in the Americas to marketing (online/offline market entry for consumer goods, buyer matching using a big-data platform)
Japan (Osaka): Strengthening long-term cooperation and targeting on-site touchpoints in manufacturing and lifestyle sectors (shipbuilding equipment and materials, pop-up stores for gift items, etc.)
China (Shanghai, Qingdao): Focused support for early entry into core consumer markets in the Greater China region (test marketing for first-time exporters, safe exports for consumer goods)
Marketing tailored to regional trends and demand (eco-friendly shipbuilding equipment and materials, biohealth, WeChat online promotion hall)
Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City): Leveraging global cooperation networks, including city-to-city exchanges (consumer goods promotion events publicizing sister cities, concentrated support to identify companies for local market entry)

□ With uncertainty in the trade environment—such as tariffs—expected to persist this year, Busan Metropolitan City plans to further strengthen tailored on-the-ground support through the Overseas Trade Offices, focusing on small and medium-sized enterprises with limited export experience and capacity.
○ To this end, the City will systematically expand support, including export mentoring, buyer due diligence and matching, business trips, support for participation in leading exhibitions, regulatory response assistance, and linkages with related organizations.
○ Centered on the Busan Export One-Stop Center and the export platform, the City will expand organic linkages with domestic overseas marketing programs and fully promote tailored support that covers the entire process from export preparation to marketing, contracting, and follow-up management.
○ In addition, the City will establish a “one-team” system with export-related organizations such as KOTRA, the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency, the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation, and the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives, jointly responding to business challenges and expanding local collaborative programs to support the creation of export outcomes.
○ In particular, at the “The 1st Busan Export-Related Organizations Council Meeting in 2026 (March 4),” scheduled to be held at the Digital Trade Total Support Center, export video consultations between the trade offices and companies will also take place.

• ●Dexter (BEXCO B1, operated by KOTRA): Supports the production of digital content for exporting companies, consulting, and more.

□ Meanwhile, the Overseas Trade Offices are also contributing to the City’s municipal promotion and exchange and cooperation in a range of areas, including startups, investment, tourism and MICE, culture, and the environment.

□ Companies wishing to receive support from the Overseas Trade Offices may inquire at any time through the Overseas Trade Office website or the Busan Export Platform (trade.bepa.kr).

□ Mayor Park Heong-joon said, “The Overseas Trade Offices are a global hub that reaches out first—and a reliable partner—when Busan companies take on the world market,” adding, “We will continue to strengthen region-specific strategies and global cooperation networks, and actively support our companies so that their outstanding technological capabilities and brand competitiveness can expand powerfully into global markets.”