The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held the ‘2026 Global Market Strategy Meeting’ on December 15, chaired by Trade Negotiation Headquarters Director Han-Koo Yeo. The meeting was attended by commercial attachés from major countries and heads of 10 regional offices overseeing 131 KOTRA trade offices. The purpose of the meeting was to preemptively assess the trade environment for 2026 and discuss tailored regional strategies, export expansion, and investment attraction.
Commercial attachés from major export countries shared policy trends such as protectionism following the inauguration of the new U.S. administration, industrial promotion policies by country, and trends of local companies. KOTRA then shared market outlooks and entry strategies for the next year, collected from its global trade offices.
KOTRA emphasized new opportunities in global supply chain restructuring, increased global AI investment, and the evolution of the Korean Wave into a K-lifestyle. Director Yeo noted that despite achieving record export levels until November this year, the global market environment will remain challenging next year due to the expansion of protectionism.
Based on this meeting, the Ministry and KOTRA will hold a ‘Global Market Entry Strategy Briefing’ on December 16 to share next year’s market outlook and entry strategies with over 500 export companies. They will also hold regional briefings in four cities (Cheongju, Ulsan, Daejeon, and Gwangju).