“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 8th
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.”
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