What is this about?

Thanks to Healthcare and Medical Equipment Korea 2025, 50 European SMEs including start-ups will visit the Republic of Korea in the period 17 - 21 March 2025 and kick-start their internationalisation path in the Healthcare and Medical Equipment sector.

This business mission presents a unique opportunity for EU SMEs to establish valuable contacts, showcase their solutions, build long-lasting relationships with Korean enterprises and explore new business avenues together. The EU Business Hub provides market insights, matchmaking services, financial and tailored support to companies.
 

Target audience 

European SMEs including start-ups and South Korean enterprises involved in the Healthcare and Medical Equipment sector, such as: Assistive technologies, Medical equipment, ICT for healthcare, Telemedicine and remote health monitoring, Nanotechnology in healthcare, AI applications in healthcare, Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering.

South Korean Business Operators, notably buyers, distributors and R&D partners in public and private sectors, and investors.

Overview of the business mission

The business mission to Seoul will last five days in total, including three days of dedicated business matchmaking and networking; a visit to KIMES 2025 for networking opportunities, and a study tour.

The business mission agenda is as follows:

• Day 1: Arrival in Seoul, welcome & networking gathering.
• Day 2: Industry intelligence, sector briefs and study tour.
• Day 3: Business matchmaking sessions and networking at KIMES.
• Day 4: Business matchmaking sessions and networking at KIMES.
• Day 5: Last day of business matchmaking sessions and networking at KIMES, debriefing session.
   

Services/benefits the EU participants will be receiving

• Business matchmaking: pre-arranged in-person meetings with carefully selected South Korean enterprises.
• Market intelligence information.
• Cultural and linguistic support.
• Financial support up to €1000 to benefit from a menu of additional customised services co-funded by the project (e.g. translation, printing, legal advice).
• Hotel accommodation (Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas) for four nights – in total, up to €1000 for accommodation is covered by the programme.
   

Key market insights

Participating to Healthcare and Medical Equipment Korea 2025 represents a unique opportunity for European SMEs because:

• The Republic of Korea is Asia’s 4th and the World’s 13th largest economy¹. 
• EU exports to the Republic of Korea in 2022 amounted to €60.1 billion in goods and €19.6 billion in service². 
• After becoming an aged society in 2018, South Korea will transition to a super-aged society in 2025 with 20.6% of its population over 65³. 
• The Republic of Korea ranks 11th in the global Healthcare Manufacturing industry market with a market share of 1.9%⁴. 
• The country’s investments in Digital Healthcare: Device 40%, Software 22%, Platform 27%, Data/Infrastructure 11%⁵. 
• Seoul ranked 1st in the country in the clinical trial market share by city in 2022 and the country’s ranked 5th in the world on that same year⁶. 
• South Korean pharmaceutical market is expected to continue growing until 2027 with a growth outlook of 4.5~7.5%⁷.  

 Apply here: https://eubusinesshub.eu/en/missions-catalogue/healthcare-and-medical-equipment-korea-2025 before 15 November 2024.

Eligibility criteria for the candidates: https://eubusinesshub.eu/en/eligibility-criteria

Contact point: Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, phone: +359 2 8117 489, +359 2 8117 494, e-mail: interdpt@bcci.bg.