Seminars to run through December across 12 regions

About 600 small businesses and sole traders to receive support

AI-powered buyer discovery and marketing assistance on offer

Local firm development expanded as $1 trillion export milestone nears

KOTRA holds a regional outreach seminar in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province last month as part of its second-half 2026 traveling seminar series. The agency plans to hold seminars across 12 regions nationwide through December to help about 600 small businesses and sole traders enter overseas markets. [KOTRA]
KOTRA holds a regional outreach seminar in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province last month as part of its second-half 2026 traveling seminar series. The agency plans to hold seminars across 12 regions nationwide through December to help about 600 small businesses and sole traders enter overseas markets. [KOTRA]

The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) will travel to 12 regions across the country to help small businesses and sole traders with little export experience break into overseas markets. KOTRA plans to provide tailored information ranging from guidance on export support programs to AI-powered overseas buyer discovery and strategies for navigating trade regulations by country.

KOTRA announced Wednesday that it will hold its "Second-Half 2026 Traveling Regional Seminar" series across 12 locations nationwide through December, in partnership with the Small Enterprise and Market Service (SEMAS) and regional organizations.

The seminars are designed to support local companies that lack access to overseas market intelligence and export specialists. The program targets about 600 small businesses, sole traders, and small and medium-sized enterprises based outside major metropolitan areas.

The series kicked off last month in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province and continues this month with stops in North Jeolla Province, Gangwon Province and South Gyeongsang Province. December sessions will follow in North Chungcheong Province, Gwangju and South Jeolla Province, Incheon, Ulsan, northern Gyeonggi Province, Busan, Gyeonggi Province, and the Daejeon-Sejong-South Chungcheong Province cluster.

Programs will be tailored to each region's key industries and the specific needs of local businesses. Sessions will cover government support programs for overseas market entry, local market trends and strategies for responding to global trade regulations.

KOTRA will particularly highlight its "Export Hope 1000" program, aimed at companies with no prior export experience.

Export Hope 1000 supports 1,000 small businesses and sole traders in regional areas as they expand overseas, running through 2030. About 200 companies are selected each year and receive step-by-step assistance from export preparation through to overseas market development.

Selected companies are assigned dedicated export consultants who help them build overseas entry strategies and handle export operations. They can also receive support for finding overseas buyers, participating in export consultation events, listing on overseas online retail platforms, and navigating logistics and certification requirements.

At each seminar venue, KOTRA export consultants will hold one-on-one sessions to hear companies' concerns and offer direct advice. The focus is on resolving practical difficulties businesses face — including how to find overseas partners, export procedures and country-specific certification issues.

AI-powered export marketing support is another key component of the program.

KOTRA operates 20 AI Trade Support Centers nationwide, through which it helps small and medium-sized enterprises produce product promotional videos and multilingual content, conduct overseas market research and identify potential buyers.

Companies can use AI tools to receive recommendations on overseas markets suited to their products and to find local buyers. The seminars will also introduce approaches that combine SNS marketing with online video consultations.

The initiative aims to help sole traders and micro-businesses — which are often too small to maintain dedicated overseas sales teams — use digital technology to pursue exports.

In December, KOTRA's regional heads of overseas operations will join the local seminars directly, timed to coincide with the agency's "Global Market Entry Strategy Seminar Week."

They will present overseas market trends, new business opportunities and market entry strategies linked to each region's core industries.

KOTRA has also been running its "First Step to Exports Week" since last month, targeting 300 domestic-focused companies and export beginners. The program supports companies in making their first export through one-on-one video consultations with overseas buyers, with sessions continuing through Friday.

The regional seminars are part of a broader effort to extend this kind of support for export newcomers to areas outside major cities. KOTRA said it plans to continue follow-up assistance after each seminar to help companies resolve export difficulties and develop overseas sales channels.

"To sustain and build on the momentum of the $1 trillion export era, it is important to expand exports by regional companies and spread AI-powered export marketing so that anyone can export," KOTRA President Kang Gyeong-seong said. "We will do our utmost to make it easier for regional companies to access export support services through these seminars and to help them overcome export challenges."


kwater@heraldcorp.com