The Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Economic Promotion Agency (CEO Kim Hyun-woo) announced on the 24th that they dispatched a market development team consisting of 16 ‘Hi Seoul Companies’ to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan from July 14 to 18, 2025 to support the overseas expansion of promising small and medium-sized enterprises in Seoul.
Through this dispatch, a total of 228 business consultations were held, 20 memorandums of understanding (MOUs) were signed, and export contracts worth a total of 20.37 million dollars (about 28.37 billion won) were promoted. Of these, the contracts directly signed on site amounted to 1.32 million dollars (about 1.85 billion won).
The Seoul Economic Promotion Agency is promoting export diversification to the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) market by strategically targeting Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the major Central Asian countries, in the midst of rapidly changing global situations. The two countries are attracting attention for their geopolitical advantages, abundant resources, and potential for growth in the domestic market, and are also being used as indirect export bases for Korean companies.
This market development team is comprised of companies in industries with high local demand, such as AI·ICT, bio·healthcare, consumer goods, and materials·parts·equipment. Participating companies improved the performance of export consultations through pre-marketing, market research, global capacity diagnosis, 1:1 consulting, and local seminars. They also explored the possibility of local expansion through cooperation with Kazakhinvest, Almaty Business Development Corporation, and the Korea-Uzbekistan Business Association.
In addition to 1:1 consultations with buyers, exchanges with local distribution networks, related organizations, and Korean companies were also conducted locally. Major achievements include AI commerce company Invention signing four MOUs and a contract worth $880,000, and road safety barrier manufacturer KSI signing a $350,000 MOU, showing that most participating companies achieved tangible consultation results.
The companies participating in the market development team are ▲Erding ▲Einvention ▲Visual Research ▲Sismate ▲Roborobo ▲UMI Optics ▲Lilycover ▲Doctor Diary ▲Rutonics ▲Secret Key ▲Big Picture Corporation ▲Mobidays ▲Hurum ▲RH&B Brands ▲Hyunjin C&T ▲KSIDA.
The Seoul Economic Promotion Agency plans to continue supporting overseas expansion in the second half of the year, starting with the development of the CIS market, to Indonesia, New York, USA, etc. Since 2023, it has been carrying out market development activities in the US, Indonesia, Austria, etc.
Meanwhile, the 'Hi Seoul Enterprise' certification is an excellent certification program for small and medium-sized enterprises hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, and this year marks its 22nd year. A total of 1,107 companies have been certified, and more than half of them have overseas export performance.
Lee Jae-hoon, head of the Seoul Economic Promotion Agency’s Global Marketing Division, said, “We have once again confirmed the trust in Seoul companies’ technological prowess and products locally,” and “This has become an opportunity to establish a base in the Central Asian market and expand our network.”
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