October 2015
Austrade provides guidance on a range of steps that Australian SMEs looking to export to South Korea can take to help make their transition as easy as possible. Some of these include:
Speak to experts
- Austrade, the Australian Government’s trade and investment agency, provides a range of services for Australian companies looking to enter the South Korean market
- Austrade provides advice and support to Australian businesses and can also help you identify possible partners for your business through its network of contacts
- Austrade also works to promote the Australian education sector within South Korea
Leverage your networks
- Establishing on-the-ground partners, advisers and suppliers can be invaluable when operating in South Korea, especially if you do not have a local presence
- Local networks can also be a great source of advice and support
- The Australia-Korea Business Council is dedicated to building links between the two business communities and is a good place to start for networking with potential business contacts
Consider your finance options
- Respondents in the Australian International Business Survey 2015 identified access to finance as a potential barrier to doing business in South Korea
- Your bank may be able to offer you a secure loan or commercial bill facility to help you finance your export contract to South Korea
- If your bank is unable to help, Export Finance Australia, Australia’s export credit agency, may be able to
Understand business etiquette
- We know that SMEs can find the business culture in South Korea daunting
- South Korean society strongly respects hierarchy and business relationships are often developed through informal social settings
- South Koreans prefer to conduct business with people they have a personal connection with – it can help if you are introduced to a prospective business associate through an intermediary
