“The 57th Trade Day” Ceremony

- 1,505 companies awarded Trade Towers and 599 individuals received awards for contribution to exports -

The “57th Trade Day” ceremony hosted by the Korea International Trade Association (Chairman: Kim Young-ju) and sponsored by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy was held at the COEX Artium in Samseong-dong on December 8^th at 10 am.

The ceremony began with the sound of boat horns signaling the start of sailing when the captain Jeon Ki-woon of the world's largest 24,000 TEU container ship, Algeciras, the first national ship of HMM, which departed from Busan Port in July, said in Strait of Gibraltar, “We will do our best to safely transport the fruits of our traders' efforts,” on the video.

The event was attended by Chairman Kim Young-joo of the Korea International Trade Association and Minister Sung Yun-mo of Trade, Industry and Energy to encourage Korean traders who have contributed to achieving 500 billion dollars in exports for four consecutive years despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

The celebration of Trade Day is the biggest event to appreciate and encourage the industry’s hard work for the year to promote Korea’s trade and expand exports, one of the main pillars of the Korean economy. More than 2,000 traders attended every year. However, this year, in accordance with the government's social distancing guidelines to prevent the spread of corona virus, the offline event was held with a strict limit of some 40 people, mainly award winners and presenters, including the chairman of the Korea International Trade Association.

10 people including CEO Lee Dong-gun of Techcross, Kim CEO Hyun-seok  of Samsung Electronics (Gold Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit), Executive Director Seok In-guk of TCC Steel (Silver Tower), and Vice President Kim Young-gu of Simtek (Bronze Tower) received the the prizes on the stage on behalf of 599 contributors.

CEO  Lee Dong-gun of Techcross, a Gold Tower winner, has developed the world’s first ballast water management technology utilizing electrolysis technology, placing Techcross as the world’s number one company in ballast water management system (BWMS) taking the largest market share. In addition, by commercializing international environmental regulations for ballast water management, it has developed high-concentration wastewater management technology and sewage management process, and contributed greatly to preventing marine pollution, protecting the environment, and creating jobs.

CEO Kim Sang-won of Handeok Chemical, who received the Iron Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit, succeeded in localizing developer solutions that Korea had depended entirely on imports through continuous investment and R&D in developing solutions for semiconductors and displays. Thanks to quality improvement and cost competitiveness, exports increased significantly, recording an average export growth rate of 457 percent over the last three years. This year, the company began producing the world’s top quality positive developer material, and is contributing to enhancing Korea's industrial competitiveness by supplying it to the domestic semiconductor and display industries.

CEO Kim Tae-kyung of Korea Battery, who received Industrial Service Medal, succeeded in commercializing the gel technology of battery electrolyte for the first time in Korea. The gelled electrolyte prevents leakage when the battery is damaged, and increases the life of the battery by inhibiting corrosion of the electrode plate. Based on such technology, CEO Kim Tae-kyung was recognized for his hard work in pioneering new markets by exporting industrial batteries to 30 countries, such as the Middle East and Africa, where the power situation is poor.

Representatives of 10 companies including Samsung SDI Co., Ltd. a winner of $ 3 Billion Export Tower, MCNEX, a winner of $ 400 Million Export Tower, AD Technology, a winner of $ 200 million Export Tower, and Korea Carbon, a winner of $ 200 million Export Tower received awards on the stage on behalf of the 1,505 Export Tower winners.

MCNEX is Korea's leading company in vehicle camera module and it is the world’s fifth-largest. The company has developed a micro-miniature VGA camera module for the first time in the world. In addition, it has expanded its business area by developing high-pixel auto-focus mobile camera modules and biometric modules and supplying them to global mobile phone manufacturers. Moreover, as a result of active overseas expansion by establishing subsidiaries in China and Vietnam in order to respond to local markets in the global market, its exports in 2019 rose 29 percent from the previous year, reaching 468.23 million dollars.

Korea Carbon, a winner of $200 Million Export Tower, has focused on the development of core materials and parts for LNG carriers in line with the increase in demand for LNG gas since the 2000s. Having succeeded in developing reinforced polyurethane foam with its own technology, it also succeeded in localizing RSB and FSB, the secondary barrier materials that were all imported from overseas, and achieved a cumulative order amount of 1 trillion won in the LNG business division in 2013. In 2017, it developed the nation’s first carbon fiber for wind power blades, contributing to the localization of wind power generation materials and enhancing competitiveness of the Korea's wind power market.

BitMango, a winner of $ 70 Million Export Tower, is a company that has developed puzzle games such as ’Word Cookies’ with 35 million global downloads and ’Roll the Ball’ with 170 million downloads. In the role-playing games (RPG)-oriented domestic mobile game market, BitMango has jumped into overseas, based on a thorough analysis of the puzzle game market. Now, 99 percent of its sales are generated overseas and it is taking the lead in exporting K-services.

Sugentech, a winner of $ 20 Million Export Tower, has been commercializing various in vitro diagnostic systems based on bio and nano technology since its establishment in 2011. In particular, when the corona virus started to spread this year, it developed a rapid antibody diagnostic kit and exported it to some 50 countries around the world, taking the lead in K-Quarantine. Thanks to this, Sugentech’s exports from the second half of last year to the first half of this year increased by more than 400 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, reaching 20.15 million dollars.

Chairman Kim Young-ju of the Korea International Trade Association said, “Amid unexpected difficulties such as restrictions on the movement of entrepreneurs and logistics issues due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Korea's exports are on the verge of reaching 500 billion dollars for four consecutive years, surpassing that of major countries,” and added, “It is not clear when the pandemic will end, but if we open the way for recovery with the traders’ wisdom and the 'can-do' spirit of challenge and the public and private sectors work together to innovate, the Korean economy will take a leap forward.”

The commemoration ceremony ended with a video of a passenger aircraft converted into a freighter leaving with our exports loaded, and a take-off message from the captain of the freighter departing on the same day, saying, “It is an honor to take responsibility for the transport of our exports and I will make sure that they can safely reach their destinations anywhere in the world.”