The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held the 2025 Korea-Africa Trade and Industry Cooperation Forum at the Koreana Hotel in Seoul.
Ambassadors from 12 African countries, businesspeople, and experts, totaling over 100 attendees, participated.
The forum discussed reviewing economic cooperation achievements and future cooperation strategies.
The Rural Development Administration has provided guidelines to ensure the quality and safety of medicinal crops after harvest.
Medicinal crops should be washed and dried immediately after harvest, and the drying temperature should be kept below 60 degrees Celsius.
During storage, frequent ventilation is necessary, and powdered or finely chopped medicinal herbs should not be stored for long periods.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held a global market strategy meeting with key trade officials and KOTRA regional directors.
The meeting discussed changes in trade environment such as the expansion of protectionism and strategies for export expansion and investment attraction.
The Ministry and KOTRA will hold a briefing session on global market entry strategies next year.
The Korea Forest Service’s National Forest Seed Management Center plans to complete the forest seed distribution survey in 2025 and conduct special inspections in 2026.
This year, they inspected the entire production and distribution process of major forest seed items to prevent the distribution of fraudulent and poor-quality seeds.
A focused inspection will be conducted in January and February 2026 to prevent consumer damage during the Lunar New Year holiday.
SMEs that file patents, trademarks, or other intellectual property have a 1.36 times higher chance of high growth.
The information and communication sector shows the highest increase at 2.69 times, while manufacturing stands at 1.39 times.
Combining domestic and international filings raises the high growth potential to 1.8 times.
The Fair Trade Commission announced the results of the ‘2025 Distribution Sector Supplier Survey’ conducted with major large-scale distribution companies.
The survey revealed that 89.0% of suppliers reported improved trading practices compared to the previous year, an increase of 3.5 percentage points.
Convenience stores showed the highest improvement rate, while online shopping malls had the lowest.