“Carry on branching out to China and then the Middle East with smaller enterprises.”
“Preoccupy the gigantic market China.” On November 10 last year, Korea-China FTA was finally signed after two-year-and-a-half negotiation. With this, the Chinese market, the world’s second largest in the size of economy, became easier to access and every effort from various circles is gaining ground. Trade volume between Korea and China in close economic relations soared from $4.44 billion in 1991 right before the treaty of amity to $250 billion in November 2014, whopping over 56 times. This will rise further and break through the record of $300 billion in 2015 by dint of the Free Trade Agreement signed this time. Especially exhibition and convention is expected to further promoted for expansion of trade volume. We met president Kim You-rim of Nexnine Co., which is devoted to helping Korea’s smaller and established enterprises branch out to China.
Amity with China’s RCM
ⓒ대한뉴스신문
Lately, Nexnine is giving most emphasis on China Sports Equipment Show to be held at Fuzhou of Fujian Sheng, China, from this coming May 8 through 11. This exposition is the biggest and most prestigious one in the Asia-Pacific region in participation of totally 3,000 brands and 200 media and receiving much attention from domestic enterprises. Nexnine is acting as an overseas bureau for this expo. President Kim You-rim explained, “Nexnine is an enterprise specializing in exhibition, convention and trade marketing. Like China Sports Equipment Show, we are drawing practical performance through everything from setting up marketing strategy for finding foreign markets for domestic smaller and established enterprises to operation and continued post management until the last point of accomplishment.” He declared, “We are cultivating markets posting our branches and channels at 38 cities around China through exclusive partnership with China’s RCM and running exhibition halls and business center for Korean products.”
‘Private-level ambassador to Qatar’
Since it is difficult for domestic smaller enterprises to find foreign markets on their own, Nexnine is positively driving forward overseas expansion of such enterprises to China or the Middle East. Serving also as private ambassador under the Korean Federation of Small and Medium Business, President Kim explained, “Being a private ambassador to Qatar, I am currently carrying out diverse Korea-Qatar cooperation and investment projects on government and private levels, or helping domestic enterprises branch out to Qatar as an advisor. Besides China, the Middle East region is very important to us as one of the three major markets (China, India and Middle East region). Especially, for Middle East, there are many countries depending on imports for most commodities lacking diverse products and technologies, and Qatar, a peninsular state, is very similar to Korea in their sentiment.” He is intent on expanding to GCC region starting from Qatar, and then to MENA.
Last year, it marked 40th anniversary of Korea-Qatar amity treaty. He is determined to do his best in the role as Korea-Qatar private ambassador, saying, “I am ready to stand together with smaller enterprises in both importing many of our lacking natural resources from Qatar as so far, and making an opportunity to provide technologies, education and culture needed in Qatar. He is actually keeping exclusive partnership with Al Harib Group and running an Exhibition Hall and business center for Korean enterprises to advance to Middle East in the middle of the country’s capital city.
“Travel is the beginning of another global business.”
President Lim You-rim, an expert in overseas exhibition, convention and trade marketing, had majored in sinology and pedagogy. He was a travel fiend with such fondness for exploring the unknown world and here’s an interesting anecdote. “In my school days, I went backpacking through India. At that time, with the expenses left after economizing, I purchased plenty of local traditional products and packed them in the knapsack. It was a plane stopping over in Japan so I set up a stall in front of a park and sold them with seven times higher profit than the total purchase from India.” Further, he bought Japanese electronic goods with this earned money and came back to Korea reselling them to his acquaintances.
It was such an interesting experience that he dreamed about ‘a global trade tycoon’ from that time on, according to president Kim You-rim. His dream started when he learned the business of exhibition convention. He said, “I realized that exhibition convention is the optimum platform for trade marketing. So then, I decided to enter into a business of combining exhibition convention and trade marketing and started the current business.” From that time, he distinguished himself in exhibition and convention, and in 2013, he superintended ‘an export support business for spreading the performance of market-creating robot supply business.’ Being attracted to the aspect of carrying on from planning to execution without any limits, he started to consider when, how and where Korean-made robots should go to find a market abroad spreading out a map of the world with his teams.
Since he didn’t simply plan on but carried on with the whole process until actual exports, he recalls, “For me, robots were not just a product. It meant a lot more because it is an industry that can tell of Korea’s future by combining the culture and high-tech of Korea. Especially, he drove forward thinking that Korean robots are a strikingly apposite item since ‘In Qatar, they think it very important to introduce culture and advanced technologies through ‘National Vision 2030.’ Actually, he received a warm response from the spot and made a big success by being invited to Qatar robot soccer game and holding the first robot seminar between Korea and Qatar. Based on such a foothold, he established a Korean robot enterprise called Techno Robotics (for import, distribution, education, and after-sale service) on the spot seeking for diverse ways of business.
President Kim You-rim has a life motto, ‘physical strength, mental power and intellectual power.’ He thinks that anything is only possible with physical health and firm willpower, and besides, he stresses that we must make efforts to learn wisdom. He paints pictures in his free time presenting them to acquaintances or on the barter system and makes a journey to every place on the globe spending time in a strange place, an environment similar to local inhabitants. With his target of ‘making a 21st-centry silk road starting from Korea and connecting China and Middle East,’ foreign countries are a place where he can make a new challenge and realize his dreams. Emphasizing to his students at every special lecture, “Do not live a life to show to others but live a life of your own,” president Kim is quickening his step with his dreams.
종합지 일간 대한뉴스(등록번호:서울가361호) 다이나믹코리아(등록번호:서울중00175호) on-off line 을 모두 겸비한 종합 매체입니다.
