INGENIOUS EXPORT CONSULTATION EVENT

[Anchor Lead]

A local government came up with an ingenious way to help a small exporter bargain for overseas deals. Export consultations were arranged with overseas buyers through video conferencing.

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​A businessman promotes a product in front of a monitor.

[Soundbite] "People buy this product repeatedly."

A demonstration is held on how to use the product. Convinced, the buyer tries to negotiate the price through an interpreter.

[Soundbite] "(She's asking how much it costs.) It's about 3.5 dollars."

The participants in this export consultation event are small businesses in Suwon. These meetings were supposed to take place over in Hanoi. But this year's events in Vietnam were cancelled due to COVID-19. So instead, sellers and buyers meet face to face through the video call system.

[Soundbite] KIM WON-SEOK(DIRECTOR OF A SHOWER HEAD FILTER COMPANY) : "We had a frank discussion. It's hard for buyers to find good products because they tend to get tired of the search, and end up missing great partnership opportunities. So it's great that the city of Suwon arranged these one-on-one meetings with buyers."

Vietnamese buyers responded positively to this arrangement as well.

[Soundbite] (VIETNAMESE BUYER) : "The online meetings are easier. They save time and cost. It's a good system."

[Soundbite] KIM GYEONG-TAE(SUWON CITY GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL) : "Buyers appear at a designated screen at a certain time to see product demonstrations and discuss export deals."

Roughly 50 local buyers were involved. The event took place simultaneously at a business center in Hanoi. The Suwon city government plans to hold another video export conference on May 21st, this time, for buyers in Hong Kong.