The World Korean Trade Association (World-OKTA) will hold a large-scale economic exchange event in Shenzhen, China, aiming to expand overseas market access for domestic companies and enhance business collaboration between South Korean and Chinese firms.
From October 8 to 11, World-OKTA will host the '30th World Korean Businessmen's Conference and 2026 Korea Business Expo' at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center.
This year marks the 45th anniversary of World-OKTA, which connects domestic companies with overseas buyers, distributors, and investors through its global network of 159 branches in 77 countries. The event aims to attract participation from 550 companies and over 6,000 attendees, including businesspeople and buyers from both South Korea and abroad.
Co-hosted by World-OKTA and the Shenzhen Commercial Association, the event will showcase South Korean products and technologies to the local Chinese market, facilitating connections for companies seeking new partners. It will leverage Shenzhen's industrial base and local business networks to support exhibitions and consultations that can lead to follow-up transactions.
During the event, the '2026 Korea Business Expo' will take place on October 9 and 10, featuring a variety of products and technologies across sectors such as beauty, food, fashion, mobility, and artificial intelligence. Participating companies will have opportunities to meet with World-OKTA members and local buyers to discuss export, distribution, and business collaboration possibilities.
Additionally, the event will include a global startup competition and a next-generation global network forum to support interactions among startups and emerging business leaders. There will also be a Korea-China investment cooperation forum and a Korea-China young entrepreneurs exchange meeting.
World-OKTA has a history of facilitating business exchanges formed at expos into successful export and collaboration agreements. For instance, GNT, an electric vehicle parts company, established a connection with Germany's PRETTL Group at the 2024 event in Vienna, leading to a product purchase agreement worth approximately 460 billion won after subsequent negotiations. This is an example of how initial meetings at the event can evolve into concrete business opportunities.
In April of last year, at an event in Andong, PNT signed a contract to export secondary battery equipment worth about 120 billion won with China's DR GLOBAL, while in October, Skin Lovers secured a cosmetics export contract worth approximately 1.4 billion won with a company in the United Arab Emirates during an event in Incheon.
Building on these experiences, World-OKTA plans to expand opportunities for individual consultations and networking at the Shenzhen conference to facilitate actual transactions.
Park Jong-beom, the chairman, stated, “This event in Shenzhen will not just be a venue for showcasing companies and products, but a business platform that generates actual contracts and follow-up transactions. Just as World-OKTA has grown into a global network connecting businesspeople since its inception 45 years ago, I hope this conference will serve as a meaningful starting point for a new 45 years and open up future opportunities.”
Founded in 1981, World-OKTA is the largest economic organization for overseas Koreans, connecting Korean businesspeople worldwide to support the international expansion of South Korean companies and global business exchanges. Currently, it operates in 157 branches across 76 countries, promoting various initiatives such as expanding exports for domestic SMEs and fostering the next generation of business leaders.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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