Daegu city is aggressively seeking to tap into Iran, India, and Vietnam which have rapidly become emerging markets in recent years.

    According to Daegu on February 18, the city will actively pursue marketing efforts targeting emerging markets in order to make up for its sluggish exports driven by China's economic slowdown. In particular, the city plans to carry out aggressive sales activities to enter the Indian market which has recently emerged as the land of opportunity after the international community lifted the sanctions against the country.

    Daegu city picked auto parts, machinery, and medical device as promising items in entering the Iranian market. Then, the city decided to take its first step towards its advance into the market by encouraging small but powerful countries in the city to attend "19th Iran Health International Exhibition" (from May 15 to 18) and "Teheran International Auto Parts Fair" (from December 14 to 17). In addition, the city aims to make all-out efforts to make forays into India, Vietnam, Latin America, and Middle East as "next China" markets as part of its efforts to lower its export reliance on China and diversify export destinations.

    When it comes to India in which Daegu has a growing interest since Korea-India Business Summit, the city is set to send its trade mission to the country from April 11 to 20. The city also plans to hold an exhibition for the city's excellent products in New Delhi in November.

    Daegu city plans to dispatch its trade mission three times (in April, June, and October) to preoccupy the Vietnamese market, which has been considered essential in overseas marketing since Korea-Vietnam FTA took effect at the end of lat year. Then, the city aims to focus its efforts on placing itself in an advantageous position in the Vietnamese market by making use of Hanoi EXPO (in April), Vietnam Commodity Fair (in June), and MTA Vietnam (in July).

    In addition, the city plans to boost exports by sending its trade mission four times to potential markets including Latin America and Middle East.

    Ahn Joong-gon, head of investment and trade division of Daegu city said that "We will focus our efforts on pioneering emerging markets to recover our weak sales this year," adding that "In addition, we will make every effort to increase exports by exploring and expanding a variety of supportive measures for exporting companies."

    Meanwhile, Daegu city will strive to boost exports through various efforts, including support of research on information of overseas markets, assistance of translation and interpretation services, support of export insurance and international express logistics costs, production of trade guide, and training of manpower specializing in trade, as well as dispatch of trade mission and support of participation in overseas exhibitions.