KOTRA's Yangjae headquarters building [KOTRA]
KOTRA's Yangjae headquarters building [KOTRA]

The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency's South Gyeongsang Province branch announced Tuesday that it had held an export education session for small businesses at its AI Trade Support Centers (AITC) in Gimhae and Jinju, in partnership with the Small Enterprise and Market Service's South Gyeongsang branch.

The session was organized as a follow-up to an MOU signed between KOTRA and the Small Enterprise and Market Service on April 14. It was designed to help small businesses in South Gyeongsang Province — many of which lack specialists in overseas market research and marketing — build the practical skills needed to prepare for exports and break into foreign markets using AI. The two agencies said they plan to use AI-based training to usher in an era where anyone can export, while creating new opportunities for regional export growth.

More than 40 small businesses hoping to enter overseas markets attended the simultaneous events at the Gimhae and Jinju AI trade centers, drawing strong interest. The training program covered export support programs tailored to small businesses, case-based trade practice education, and hands-on sessions with KOTRA's four major platforms and its "AI Export Secretary" tool — all structured to maximize real-world applicability.

Participants took part in hands-on exercises using KOTRA's "AI Export Secretary" and related AI solutions, walking through the full export process themselves. The sessions, built on a global big data platform, let attendees directly experience the entire export workflow — including overseas market analysis by target country, recommended buyer matching, and the creation of multilingual promotional materials using generative AI.

"The rapid advancement of generative AI and digital trade infrastructure is opening new export pathways for regional small businesses that lack specialized personnel and capabilities," said Son Byeong-cheol, head of KOTRA's South Gyeongsang Province branch. "We will continue to actively support local small businesses in their global ventures through KOTRA's AI Trade Support Centers."

Meanwhile, KOTRA has been carrying out a range of activities to help Korean companies expand overseas across major global markets, including a K-food promotional event, a cooking show and a tasting experience held with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs at Abasto, a leading shopping mall in Buenos Aires, Argentina.


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