Getting There: Trade Fair Participation and Its Importance for Korean Machinery Exporters

^*The authors would like to thank the Association for Asian Studies, Northeast Asia Council, for its generous support of this research.

Abstract

Entering overseas markets provides challenges for firms, especially for those with little international experience. These obstacles can be compounded for manufacturers of advanced machinery, as previous research suggests that a physical presence is necessary for the successful implementation of their products in export markets. One way for producers to address this issue is to participate in trade fairs, which enables a physical presence of staff and machinery to be established. Evidence from a survey of Korean machinery producers at a recent trade fair suggests that a physical presence is related to the importance that firms ascribe to exports and to the role of trade fairs in new sales.

进军海外市场为企业带来了挑战, 特别是对那些缺乏国际经验的企业而言。这些困难对于高阶机械的製造商而言更为严峻, 因为过去的研究显示, 实体展示对于他们成功地将产品出口外销市场来说是必要的。生产者应对该问题的方法之一便是参与商展, 而商展能够让人员与机器得以实体展现。我在一个近期的商展中对韩国机械製造商所进行的调查证据指出, 实体展示与厂商归给出口以及商展在新销售中的角色的重要程度有关。

Ingresar a los mercados extranjeros implica enfrentar serios retos a las firmas, en especial para aquellas que tienen poca experiencia internacional. Tales obstáculos pueden complicarse aún más a los industriales de maquinaria avanzada, como sugieren investigaciones previas, en el sentido de que la presencia física es necesaria para la exitosa colocación de sus productos en los mercados de exportación. Una manera como los productores pueden enfrentar este asunto es participando en las ferias de comercio, que habilitan una presencia física de personal y de la maquinaria que se comercializará. La evidencia recogida en un estudio de productores coreanos de maquinaria, en una feria comercial reciente, sugiere la relación prioritaria que las firmas conceden a una presencia física con la importancia de las exportaciones y con el papel que desempeñan las ferias comerciales en nuevas ventas.

Key Words::

• exports
• Korea
• machine tools
• trade fairs

关键词::

• 出口
• 韩国
• 机器工具
• 商展

Palabras clave::

• exportaciones
• Corea
• maquinaria
• ferias comerciales

Notes

^* The authors would like to thank the Association for Asian Studies, Northeast Asia Council, for its generous support of this research.

EMO = Exposition Mondiale de la Machine Outil; JSIMTOF = Japan International Machine Tool Fair; CIMT = China International Machine Tool Show; TIMTOS = Taipei International Machine Tool Show; IMTS = International Manufacturing Technology Show. All of these fairs are commonly known by their acronyms.

It should be noted that SIMTOS is envisioning a continued integrated focus for this show, with the name “Seoul International Manufacturing Technology Show” listed on its 2014 Web site (http://simtoskorea.blogspot.kr/2013/03/show-preview-outline.html).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ronald V. Kalafsky

RONALD V. KALAFSKY is an associate professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include the performance, strategies, and location-based challenges of manufacturers and exporters located in industrialized economies.

Douglas R. Gress

DOUGLAS R. GRESS is an associate professor of economic geography at Seoul National University's College of Education in Seoul, South Korea. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests primarily include Korean firms and firm networks.