Chungbuk Techno Park (Chungbuk TP), a regional innovation agency in North Chungcheong Province, announced Wednesday that it is launching its "Export Columbus" program to strengthen the export competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the province amid a rapidly changing global trade environment.
Chungbuk TP introduced a new paradigm of "Korean-language-based export support." The agency has built an integrated system that handles translation, localization and buyer communication based on Korean-language materials and content, enabling companies to pursue exports without the burden of foreign languages.
Through this system, companies can describe their products and technologies in Korean and receive a practical export environment that allows immediate application to global markets.
The Export Columbus program is an action-oriented export support initiative that puts this strategy into practice. Named after Columbus's voyages to discover new continents, the program provides step-by-step customized support to help provincial SMEs explore new overseas markets.
In the market exploration phase, the program assists with analysis of promising countries and industries and helps develop market entry strategies. This is followed by a navigation phase involving buyer discovery and consultations, and a settlement phase focused on contract signing and sustained export expansion, providing full-cycle support throughout the process.
The Export Columbus program operates on an actual global network. It is staffed by 50 local market experts active in 33 major cities across 24 countries, providing customized support that reflects each region's market characteristics and industry environment.
These experts perform functions equivalent to on-site representatives, including discovering local buyers, arranging consultations and providing market intelligence. They provide close on-the-ground support for provincial companies' overseas expansion, facilitating actual deal closures.
"The Export Columbus program is an action-oriented platform that goes beyond simple support to help SMEs explore global markets on their own," Chungbuk TP President Park Soon-ki said. "We will build an environment where anyone can easily enter overseas markets through our Korean-language-based export support system."
Chungbuk TP posted a call for participants in the "Export Columbus Localization Support" program starting May 20. Companies based in Cheongju can find details and apply through the Chungbuk Global Marketing System website, while companies based in Danyang can apply through the SME Technology Development Project Management System website.
The agency plans to lower entry barriers so that early-stage exporters and companies with limited overseas experience can also participate, enabling more businesses to take on the challenge of global markets.