Seongnam City has dispatched a "Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Market Pioneer Group" to Almaty, Kazakhstan, and Tashkent, Uzbekistan, to help local small and medium-sized enterprises expand into overseas markets.
According to Seongnam City on the 18th, the delegation consists of seven promising small and medium-sized enterprises in the local bio-healthcare sector. The group, which departed the previous day, will begin in Almaty on the 18th before holding export consultation sessions with local buyers in Tashkent from the 20th to the 22nd.
In Tashkent, the delegation will participate in the Korea Joint Pavilion at "Pharma Eurasia 2026," a specialized pharmaceutical exhibition, to engage with professional buyers from across Eurasia.
This marks the first in-person CIS export consultation in five years, following the online sessions held during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. The city said the initiative reflects the demand among local companies to diversify their export channels beyond their existing core markets in North America and Southeast Asia.
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are actively pursuing the modernization of their healthcare infrastructure, backed by vast territories, abundant resources, and rapidly growing populations. With interest in and demand for K-bio and healthcare products surging recently, the two countries are drawing attention as new strategic markets for Korean firms.
The market pioneer group is hosted by Seongnam City and co-organized by the Seongnam Industry Promotion Agency and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA). Participating companies receive benefits including rental fees for consultation venues and transportation vehicles, as well as buyer matching, interpretation services, and airfare.
"Central Asia is a strategic market where demand for K-bio and healthcare products has been rapidly expanding recently," a Seongnam City official said. "We will actively support the dispatched companies so that they can achieve tangible export results with local buyers."
