세계한인무역협회 토론토지회(지회장 박성원)은 회원 6명과 함께 지난 13일 서산시 수출 상담회를 진행했다.

서산시와 캐나다 토론토지회와의 교류는 지난 2015년부터 진행되었고, 그후 지속적으로 해외마케팅의 노력이 결과로 이어진 것으로 주목을 받고 있다.

지난해 11월 토론토한인회(회장 이기석)와 농특산물 구매 확대 업무협약을 체결한 바 있으며 이번 상담회는 협약 이후 협력사업 논의 과정에서 양측의 의견 일치로 성사됐다.

이번 상담회에는 박성원 지회장 등 토론토 지역의 식품과 건강식품, 화장품 등 취급 업체와 온라인 마켓 운영자 등이 함께 했다.

서산에서는 젓갈류 등의 농식품 가공업체와 화장품 제조업체 등 10여개 업체의 관계자가 참석해 수출로 성사시키기 위한 홍보에 주력했다.

박성원 지회장은 “지난해 토론토에서 열린 판촉행사에서 눈여겨 봐둔 상품이 있다”며”현지에서 한국식품이 좋은 평가를 받고 있는 만큼 서산 상품도 수출로 연결하겠다”고 밝혔다.

바이어들은 젓갈류, 한과, 천일염 등의 전통식품은 물론, 천연비누 등의 화장품에 큰 관심을 보인 것으로 알려졌다.

홍보에 직접 나선 이완섭 시장은 “캐나다 무역상의 방문은 시의 마케팅력과 상품 경쟁력을 입증한 것이라”며 “좋은 상품들이 수출로 이어지도록 적극적인 지원을 아끼지 않겠다”고 말했다.

한편 시는 지난해 토론토한인회의 적극적인 협조로 현지 농식품 수입 유통업체 Pan Asia Food(회장 이창복)와 협약을 맺고 현지 5개 마켓에서 판촉행사를 진행한 결과 1억여원의 판매 실적을 올린 바 있다.

북미시장 진출을 희망하는 대한민국 중소기업에게 실질적인 성과 창출을 올릴 수 있도록 유도 및 촉진하기 위해 현지에서의 풍부한 사업경력과 네트워크, 다년간 성공적인 한국제품의 수출을 성사시킨 OKTA Toronto 멤버들이 설립함

OCE’s Discovery 2017 kicked off to a great start this weekend at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in downtown Toronto.  As Canada’s leading innovation-to-commercialization conference, there were many key players from industry, academia, government, the investment community as well as entrepreneurs and students pursuing collaboration opportunities.

Last year, Discovery saw an attendance of over 3,400 attendees and more than 500 exhibitors, showcasing leading-edge technologies, best practices and research from sectors such as health, manufacturing, digital media and cleantech, including energy, environment and water. It is expected that 2017 will see a crowd of a similar scope with renowned keynote speakers such as John Cohen, CEO of Jigsaw, formerly Google Ideas, and Gina McCarthy, Head of EPA under President Obama.

This year, in support with the Gyeonggi CCI and GBSA, 10 Korean tech startups were invited by KOTRA Toronto to participate at OCE’s Discovery 2017. The Korean Startups held a prominent section within the two day expo to introduce their companies and ideas to the event attendees. KIGA Labs’ Jae Chong attended the forum as an advisor to the Korean startup representatives as they met with industry experts, possible buyers, investors and tech talents in Ontario. Partner and Managing Director Jae Chong also invited the Ontario Ministry of Research Innovation and Science to visit the Korean startups booths. Including was His Honourable Dr. Reza Moridi, Minister of Research Innovation and Science of Ontario, who gave a personal visit to the Korean tech hub at Discovery 2017.

With support from the Korea Venture Business Association (KOVA) and collaboration between the Seongnam Industry Promotion Agency (SNIP), KigaLabs and IPFrontier, the 4th Investment Road Show was held in Seongnam City, South Korea.
KigaLabs Toronto, as well as members of KigaLabs Beijing, France, Boston and Seoul were invited to provide mentoring to growing startups in Seongnam City. Industry specific mentoring from each KigaLab chapters were given to the various delegates from Korea participating the event, as KigaLabs Toronto focused giving professional advice to startups in the tech industry.

Attending as part of Ontario’s 2016 trade mission to the Republic of Korea, Principal Consultant of Avantis International in Toronto, Jae Chong met with Premier Kathleen Wynne. The Premier of Ontario led the trade mission with delegates from Ontario to showcase what Ontario businesses had to offer, from the automobile, information communication technology, advanced manufacturing to life sciences sectors.

Throughout the mission, Ontario delegates announced and signed 13 agreements valued at about $120 million with South Korean companies.The enhanced business relationships is said to create an estimated 426 jobs and strengthen Ontario’s economy.

As part of the Global Venture Week 2016, tech delegates from Korea participated in Keiretsu Forum Central Canada’s October 2016 Angel Capital Expo. The Keiretsu’s event was Toronto’s biggest event of the year by the world’s largest Angel Investor Network. With over 125 Angel Investors, Venture Capitalists, Fund Managers and government sectors present the Keirutsu Expo boasted an exceptional networking opportunity to the 30+ early stage companies, 60+ entrepreneurs and service providers.

Brought over by the Korea Venture Business Association (KOVA) sponsored event, the Korean delegation of 20 companies were individually featured by KigaLabs Toronto and brought significant interest to the delegates. The expo gave the opportunity to the delegates a chance to present their companies to the Canadian market. Investing opportunities, market research and awareness of the Korean delegates brought in high interest and attention within Keiretsu and its members.

As part of the Global Venture Week 2016, 16 tech delegates from Korea along with KigaLabs Toronto held the 2nd Canada-Korea Startup Venture Forum in Toronto. The full day event held at the Ritz-Carlton Toronto featured sector specific presentation pitches, a demo-day showcase, a networking reception and dinner.

The forum ran by KigaLabs, sponsored and collaborated with the Korea Venture Business Association (KOVA) and the International Network of Korean Entrepreneurs (INKE), invited over 150 businessmen and businesswomen of Toronto’s tech industry. The presentations allowed the 16 Korean delegates, trained and mentored through the Global Venture Week 2016, pitch their product and company to investors and industry leaders of Toronto. The demo-day gave the opportunity for 1-on-1 meetings and IR meetings for the delegates. The networking reception and dinner was held to give further awareness for the Korean start-ups entry and willingness to soft land in the Toronto’s tech market.

The Canada-Korea Venture Forum allowed the 16 Korean delegates develop direct relationship with Toronto businesses and an opportunity for cooperation for future projects.

As a collaboration project between KIGALabs and KEF (Korea Entrepreneurship Foundation), a one week Global Entrepreneurship program was completed on February 2, 2016 in Toronto, Canada.

15 delegations from Korea attended the program and visited a number of startup ecosystems such as Ontario Centres of Excellence, MaRS, Communitech, and DMZ. They also visited professional support organizations such as PwC Law, Glowlings, Schulich School of Business, University of Toronto and Ontario Investment and Trade Centre.

Sungnam Industry Promotion Agency appointed Jae Chong and Steve Cho of Avantis International as Export Specialists for their Global Export Network Development Project.