In Korea

Korea

Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

, KOTRA (Korea Trade Promotion Corporation initially, Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency since 1995) was established in 1962 as a national trade

International trade

International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories. In most countries, such trade represents a significant share of gross domestic product...

 promotion organization. Since then, it has facilitated Korea's rapid export-led

Export

The term export is derived from the conceptual meaning as to ship the goods and services out of the port of a country. The seller of such goods and services is referred to as an "exporter" who is based in the country of export whereas the overseas based buyer is referred to as an "importer"...

 economic

Economy

An economy consists of the economic system of a country or other area; the labor, capital and land resources; and the manufacturing, trade, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of that area...

 development through various trade promotion activities such as overseas market surveys

Market research

Market research is any organized effort to gather information about markets or customers. It is a very important component of business strategy...

 and business matchmaking. In August 1995, cross-border investment

Investment

Investment has different meanings in finance and economics. Finance investment is putting money into something with the expectation of gain, that upon thorough analysis, has a high degree of security for the principal amount, as well as security of return, within an expected period of time...

 promotion and support for technological

Technology

Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...

 and industrial

Industry

Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...

 cooperation projects was added to KOTRA's mandate, and it was renamed to Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency.

KOTRA currently operates Invest KOREA

Invest KOREA

Invest KOREA, the national investment promotion agency of South Korea and a member of the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies , was established within the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency or KOTRA with the sole purpose of supporting the entry and successful establishment of...

, the national investment promotion agency. Originally initiated as the Korea Investment Service Center (KISC) in 1998, the agency was relaunched as Invest KOREA in November 2003 to support foreign investors with an expanded range of services.

KOTRA now pursues its twin mandates of trade and investment promotion to enhance national prosperity

Gross domestic product

Gross domestic product refers to the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period. GDP per capita is often considered an indicator of a country's standard of living....

 and competitiveness

Competitiveness

Competitiveness is a comparative concept of the ability and performance of a firm, sub-sector or country to sell and supply goods and/or services in a given market...

, with the goal of positioning Korea as the business and economic hub of East Asia

East Asia

East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...

. With its experience and expertise, KOTRA assists interested parties worldwide to do business with Korea.

In order to execute its mandates more efficiently, KOTRA has opened an extensive worldwide network of overseas Korea Trade Centers (KTC). Today, KOTRA maintains more than 111 Korean Business Centers in 74 countries in the world and nearly 13 offices in Korea.

KOTRA’s International Networks in the 1960s
Year Trade Centers No. of New Offices
1962 New York, Los Angeles, Hong Kong Bangkok 4
1964 Tokyo, Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore, Jakarta, Tehran, Nairobi 10
1965 Osaka 11
1966 London, Amsterdam, Milan, Geneva, Hamburg, Chicago, San Francisco, New Orleans, Montreal, Panama, Naha, Sydney, Johannesburg 24
1968 Manila 25
1969 Paris, Hamburg Supporting Centre, Santiago, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Mexico, Argentina, Caracas, Lima, Tunisia, Kuwait, Nairobi, Vancouver, Dallas 39
Source: KOTRA (1992)

To take advantage of the era of E-Commerce

Electronic commerce

Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce, eCommerce or e-comm, refers to the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. However, the term may refer to more than just buying and selling products online...

, KOTRA launched the interactive internet

Internet

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

 portal sites of Invest KOREA Online (formerly Cyber KISC) in 2003 and BuyKorea in 2004.

KOTRA Academy was launched in 2003 as a professional learning center for international business

International Business

International business is a term used to collectively describe all commercial transactions that take place between two or more regions, countries and nations beyond their political boundary...

. It is intended that KOTRA's trade and investment manpower will bolster the nation's trade and investment infrastructure.

KOTRA Seal of Excellence

The KOTRA Seal of Excellence is a seal that KOTRA gives to companies which it deems qualified by three major criteria. These are Quality, High Technology, and Trustworthiness. As of June 2010, KOTRA has awarded the seal to 430 different companies. The purpose of the seal is to help foreign companies to identify quality products and companies in Korea.

Advanced Technology and Design KOREA

Project Advanced Technology and Design Korea. Sponsored by KOTRA, the Presidential Council on Nation Branding

Presidential Council on Nation Branding, Korea

The Presidential Council on Nation Branding, Korea was established on January 22, 2009 by Executive Decree 21283 with the objective to promote Korea’s global image; to right misconceptions about Korea, its culture, its products, and its people; and to raise respect for Korea so as to support...

, and the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, this project aims itself to be the go to place in order to find information about Korea’s most innovative technology, design and business. Please stop by the blog (www.advancedtechnologykorea.com), Facebook (www.facebook.com/advancedtechKOR) and twitter (@advancedtechkr) to get connected. Already recognized in the industry as a prominent leader of IT, South Korea wants to share with the rest of the world the dynamic and various technology and design that this small but mighty Eastern land has to offer. Our mission is to break past stereotypes and shed the old image that the world may have of Korea and uncover the colorful and future-forward quality of the advancements that are hidden within this nation.

External links

• KOTRA Website (English version)
• BuyKorea.org (English version)
• Invest KOREA
• KOTRA Website (Korean version)
• BuyKorea.org (Korean version)
• Contact KOREA (English version)