Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy-KOTRA operate integrated Korean pavilion at ‘Cosmoprof Bologna Beauty Exhibition’ in Italy

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KOTRA operated an integrated Korean pavilion at the ‘Cosmoprof of Worldwide Bologna 2024’ held in Italy for three days starting March 21. This exhibition, held for the 55th time this year, boasts the highest authority in the beauty industry. According to the organizers, the total number of participating companies in 2024 is approximately 3,000 from 60 countries, fully recovering to pre-pandemic levels, solidifying the exhibition's global status. The integrated Korean pavilion was jointly operated by five organizations, and a total of 240 companies participated, making it the largest ever. It is also significant in that participating companies will utilize the unified ‘KOREA’ brand to further strengthen Korea’s brand status in the global beauty industry. KOTRA collaborated with 31 overseas trade centers and invited 450 overseas buyers to the site. Thanks to this active on-site support, Company P, which produces an anti-aging skin care line with peptide ingredients, signed contracts worth about $86,000 with 7 promising buyers. At the exhibition hall, the ‘K-Beauty Next Promotion Center’ was also operated, consisting of 10 novice export companies in the domestic beauty field that wish to export to Europe. KOTRA plans to use local influencers to produce on-site videos into promotional videos for SNS and provide intensive support to lead to test orders from local distribution companies in the future.

KOTRA joins hands with 8 universities to foster FTA experts

On March 8, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KOTRA held the ‘2024 University FTA Course Responsible Professor Meeting’ with eight universities to foster FTA experts. The meeting was prepared to discuss the annual plan for the ‘University FTA Professional Training Project’. It has been held since 2013 as a project to improve the understanding of trade and trade trends and FTA agreements and to cultivate practical capabilities among college students in business, trade, and commerce. Last January, eight partner universities (Kangwon National University, Dankook University, Mokwon University, Pai Chai University, Sangji University, Yeungnam University, Chonbuk National University, and Korea Maritime and Ocean University) were selected, and approximately 500 university students will take FTA-related lectures. In particular, starting this year, approximately 20 students will be dispatched to the KOTRA Overseas Trade Center where the ‘FTA Overseas Utilization Support Center’ is located for two months to cultivate students’ field experience.