KOTRA participates in the ‘Aerospace & Defense Meetings Torino 2023’ and holds an industrial forum and export and investment consultation session

KOTRA (CEO Yoo Jeong-yeol), along with Jeju Island (Governor Oh Young-hoon), participated in the ‘Aerospace & Defense Meetings Torino 2023 (hereinafter “ADM”)’ held in Turin, Italy for three days from the 28th of last month, and held an industrial forum and an export and investment consultation session. The ADM Exhibition is the leading European aerospace and defense trade show, held every other year since 2008, and is an event that brings together the world's leading experts in the field for business meetings and networking. The Italian aerospace industry is the seventh largest in the world and the fourth largest in Europe by revenue and is focused on: aircraft, spacecraft and satellite fuselages and related components; radar, flight recorders and engine controls; and maintenance services. While the aerospace sector has high barriers to entry globally, Italy is interested in collaborating with South Korea due to the recent need to "digitize" and "decarbonize" its aerospace industry. To this end, KOTRA organized the event in collaboration with Jeju Island, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), and Perry Aerospace (a private space startup). In Italy, Thales Alenia Space Italia (TASI), a joint venture between Italy and France that is also involved in the development of Korea's reconnaissance satellites, and Avio Aero, an Italian subsidiary of aircraft engine specialist GE Aviation, introduced excellent domestic companies by discovering new sourcing needs in the fields of avionics, materials, and machinery and processing.

Spurring ‘Export Plus’ by holding ‘Global Public Procurement Plaza’

KOTRA, together with the Korea Public Procurement Service, organized the '2023 Global Public Procurement Plaza (GPPM)' at the Ambassador Pullman Hotel in Jangchung-dong, Seoul, for two days from the 29th of last month to expand Korean companies' access to overseas public procurement markets. This was the seventh edition of GPPM and the first to be held entirely offline since the pandemic. This year's event invited more than 90 clients and procurement vendors from 21 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates. They held consultations with more than 250 domestic companies interested in the overseas public procurement market, including international procurement specialists and innovative procurement companies, to explore the possibility of business cooperation. The participation of procurement vendors is the largest since KOTRA and the Public Procurement Service jointly organized the export consultation. The main sectors are ∼ medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare ∼ electronics, IT, and information and communication ∼ batteries, generators, and energy ∼ mechanical parts, construction equipment, and engines ∼ and educational teaching aids. International organizations such as the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and UNICEF, as well as the Kenya Medicines Supply Agency (KEMSA) and KOICA, were invited as speakers to present their procurement policies and plans to enter the overseas procurement market. For the first time at the event, KOTRA operated a 'Customs and International Dispute Consulting' booth. Experts were stationed at the booth to listen to and support domestic companies facing difficulties in entering the overseas procurement market. It also opened the 'Excellent Product Showcase Exhibition Hall' to display nine excellent products certified for the overseas procurement market, allowing major procurement sources such as international organizations and foreign governments to see Korean products with participant's own eyes.