Trade Mission
Asia Pacific

Trade Mission to South Korea

October 23, 2023 — October 27, 2023

South Korea’s economy is ranked the 4th in Asia and 14th in the world. Underlying the advanced economy is a historic strength in shipbuilding, steel, and petrochemical industries and a shifting focus toward technology-intensive industries. Korea has become a leader in high-tech industries, and it is a trailblazer for high-speed and wireless internet. The industries targeted by the Korean Government include healthcare (medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology), industrial chemicals, information technology components, semi-conductor manufacturing, aerospace and defense, energy, environmental technology, and transportation (including reviving the shipbuilding industry). 

South Korea is one of the most trade-dependent countries in the world. Given its robust shipping and air cargo infrastructure, Korea serves not only as a market destination for U.S. goods and services, but also as a hub for expansion into other markets. U.S. companies can reap the benefits of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) with 95% of consumer and industrial U.S. products entering duty-free into South Korea.

Top opportunities for Virginia exporters to South Korea include:

  • Aerospace and Defense Equipment
  • Air Pollution Control
  • Education Services
  • Energy - Carbon Neutrality Initiatives
  • Entertainment and Media
  • Information and Communication Technology, Cybersecurity
  • Manufacturing Technology - Smart Factory
  • Medical Equipment and Devices
  • Specialty Chemicals

Registration Deadline

Contact

Hannah Overby
International Training Manager
Richard Miller
VALET Program Manager

Frequently Asked Questions

Based on past trade missions, we expect 6-10 Virginia companies to participate. The registration process is ongoing until the trade mission is full or the registration deadline has passed.

You must pay the trade mission participation fee of $2,500 to the VEDP at the time of registration. The participation fee includes the following: 

  • Identifying, contacting and pre-qualifying local distributors, reps and/or partners and organization of your meetings with interested prospects
  • A “Doing Business In” briefing on the market(s) 
  • Your VEDP Trade Mission Leader and in-country consultant on hand during the week to ensure everything runs to plan
  • Interpreter if needed

All travel expenses including airfare, hotels, meals, individual ground transportation to be paid directly by each participant. Additional estimated costs you will incur include (but are not limited to):

  • Roundtrip airfare
  • Hotels (7 nights)
  • Meals
  • Airport transfers, taxis, and other miscellaneous items

In most cases, you will be traveling independently to the locations of the local companies with which you are meeting. Because most appointments will be held at the companies’ locations, travel and other logistics may prevent each delegate from having a minimum of 3-4 meetings each day of the trade mission.

 

For travel between meetings, our consultants will recommend the most effective method of transportation. This will likely be a local car/driver.

If required, interpreters will be provided for meetings and are included in your registration fee. 

Airline tickets: You book (and pay for) your own airline ticket via local travel agent or online air travel website. If you do not have a travel agent, the Trade Mission Leader can recommend one for you.

 

Hotels: VEDP will choose the hotel(s) and make reservations at a pre-negotiated government rate for each delegate. However, delegates will be responsible for their own hotel charges throughout the mission. All delegates will stay at the same hotel in order to facilitate logistics as well as to encourage the interaction and networking that is always a collateral benefit of traveling with a group.  You will pay all hotel room charges directly to the hotel.

 

Contact your local International Trade Manager or the Trade Mission Leader immediately! We only want you to make the trip if we think there is good market potential for your company. We can perform exploratory market research within a short period of time to verify market potential for you.