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Permalink Reply by Steven S. Bammel on January 7, 2010 at 10:09pm

As far as I know, these are generally (always?) operated by various government agencies. Each Korean province has such an agency; so do many Korean cities. I don't have good first-hand knowledge of how you'd get into this area, but at least a couple members on KBC are already working in this field.

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Permalink Reply by David Clark on January 8, 2010 at 3:06am

Thank you Steve - agreed, I too have been finding this to be the case. Looking forward to learning more about it.

Other thoughts?

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Permalink Reply by Dom LaVigne on January 8, 2010 at 4:43am

Steven is correct -- most governments in Asia have specific federal offices tasked with attraction of FDI and trade promotion. In Korea's case, I believe that these are KITA and KOTRA. For a country such as Singapore, it would be the Economic Development Board (EDB), or in Malaysia, MIDA (for manufacturing) or MDeC (for ICT-related investments).

Then individual provinces or states will often also have their own EDBs, which seek to attract investment directly into those areas. China is a good example of how well and how aggressively individual municipalities such as Tianjin (TEDA), Guangzhou, and Dalian are seeking to bring in FDI.

If you are interested in looking for these types of opps, you would need to contact the relevant government agencies for which you would like to work. Some governments might be able to work with you (either hiring you on, or bringing you in as a consultant), whereas others might not if there are security restrictions on non-citizens working for those agencies. If you have Korean language skills, that would be helpful, although I believe that some govt agencies could bring in people who are not fluent, but you would need to develop your language capabilities.

Ideally, you would have lived and/or done business in Asia, and already have networks of contacts with foreign companies and local govt bodies. To get into this area, it is best if you have worked previously in government, with a trade association or chamber of commerce, or other entity where you were doing international business, have a broad network of contacts, and are able to work with govt and businesspeople at senior levels. If you have organized trade missions (for US companies going out to Asia or vice-versa) and/or worked with firms who have been looking to invest and establish a prescence in a particularly country, that is also good.

With trade promotion, there are generally two areas: trade policy/promotion and more "nuts-and-bolts" aspects. Trade policy/promotion are what I have described above. Nuts/bolts are people who have hands-on experience doing international trading (e.g., who understand the logistics of getting Product A from Point 1 to Point 2, understand specific customs regulations for various WTO harmonization codes in particular countries, etc.) The two are very different skill sets and levels of experience.

Another option is to consider joining the US Foreign & Commercial Service at Dept of Commerce. There are 250 FCS officers posted at US embassies around the world. They are diplomats who work alongside their Dept of State counterparts, and focus on promoting the export of US products and services to the respective countries. To join FCS, you need to take a one-day exam in DC (the exam is being offered in Feb, but registrations have already closed). If you pass it, and also the security and background checks, you would be put on a ranking list and then called-up based on your scores.

However, there is no guarantee you'd be posted to Korea - it would depend on FCS' needs, your preferences, and language capabilities. Assuming your background matches their interests and you were to pass the test, if you have at least a 3/3 (oral/written) score in Korean, you would be a very strong candidate to go there. Postings last 3-4 years, depending on whether the country is classified as hardship or not (hardship posts are for one year). Your career would combine overseas work at embassies with stints at USEAC (US Export Assistant Center) offices in the States and/or work at DOC in DC.

You can also join Commerce as a civil servant working domestically at one of the USEACs, or with the International Trade Administration (ITA) in DC. ITA is a key component of Commerce, and its employees work on quite a broad array of interesting policy issues, trade barriers, etc. by country and by industry sector. Go to www.doc.gov to view job openings and learn about the application process, and for FCS opps overseas.

Another area you might wish to consider is working for one of the many hundreds of trade associations in Washington, DC. Most of the bigger ones have international trade departments. These work on behalf of their members to help build overseas networks, promote US products/services in those countries, help to address market-access difficulties, promote adoption of US standards overseas, etc. A good resource for this is the ASAE web site, through which you can search for assns based on your areas of interest. Go to http://www.asaecenter.org/, click on the "People & Groups" tab, and "Find a Member" subtab. You'll need to register (free) in order to use it.

You might also want to check specific Korea-related organizations, such as the Korea Society (in NYC/DC). Additionally, the Korean Embassy in DC has an Information Center on Mass Ave. (I think it was recently renamed to "KORUS House") which helps to promote Korea to Americans, including holding Korean film nights, language classes, etc. I know that they have hired Americans in the past to help with their operations. That might be an interesting way to break into it, although their areas of focus are more on PR/marketing and not on trade promotion (which would be handled by their embassy's Economics Section).

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Permalink Reply by Dom LaVigne on January 8, 2010 at 4:53am

PS: I don't know whether they are still looking to hire someone, but the US Chamber of Commerce in DC was looking for an Asst Manager, Japan/Korea to support their programs with these countries. The position itself is just above entry-level, and would be supporting their VP for Asia, who was previously head of AMCHAM Korea (a really dynamic lady - you'd enjoy working with her).

I have worked with a number of folks in the Chamber's Asia Division (mostly on SE Asian issues) and they have a great team. The US Chamber is an ideal organization to get you familiar with US business, international trade/country issues, and to learn how to navigate "Inside the Beltway" (understanding how things work in DC).

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Permalink Reply by vince rubino on January 9, 2010 at 10:01am

This is an excellent thread that contains great advice for, not only working in investment promotion, but also on the challenges and practical approaches to finding jobs as a foreign professional in Korea.

As a foreigner working for any company that exports or imports products or services, you will likely be tasked with supporting the investment and promotion process... even if your job title and description something else. Good luck with this!

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Permalink Reply by Todd Sample on January 8, 2010 at 1:34pm

Greetings, David,

As mentioned by Steven Bammel in his response, I am one of the members of KBC who is currently working in the field of (inbound) investment promotion in Korea, at Invest KOREA specifically. I should start off by saying it's good to know that more foreign nationals are interested in this field in Korea, as I believe that a foreign presence at an IPA has the potential to contribute significantly to a higher level of professionalism and effectiveness in terms of how promotion efforts are carried out. I would say that this is especially true at smaller IPAs (city/province level) but also true at the larger ones, FEZs, for example.

As to qualifications, it would depend on the type of work you would do. That is, a project manager in the IT field should be well versed in the sector. In regard to PR, having a strong marketing background would be beneficial. Although not essential, Korean language ability is a big help, particularly in the smaller agencies where language skills will increase your relevance and reduce the chance that you will be marginalized and/or reduced to editing English documents, etc. As is true with any job in Korea, but specifically those in the Korean public sector, the more value you bring or, more importantly, are 'perceived' to be bringing to the table, the more relevant you will be considered, although you will still face a struggle to have your voice heard and ideas taken into consideration, particularly at larger organizations.

The Free Economic Zones, to my knowledge, have foreign nationals on staff. Here at IK we have three. Some of the provinces have them as well. As job announcements for foreign employees aren't common, I would recommend that you work to establish relationships with the organizations by visiting them/meeting the heads of the organizations and presenting them with your interest in helping them. Domestic IPAs often hold investment promotion events in Seoul, venues which offer direct access to the different agencies and generally, their heads. Attending them will help you nurture those relationships, and generally free steaks are involved!

Until they were recently eliminated, two schools in Korea - The KDI School of International Policy (of which I am a graduate) and Korea University - offered master's degree programs in FDI. Of the 5-6 foreign graduates of the KDI program, to my knowledge, two of us are working in the public sector in FDI promotion, one has established his own inbound/outbound FDI consultancy, and the others are not involved in the field. Many graduates of Korea University's MIBA program are working to promote FDI in various agencies around Korea.

In terms of intangibles, I would say that working in the gov't sector in Korea promoting investment or trade would require patience, familiarity with a Korean working environment/company culture and cultural traits, as well as patience, creativity, strong network in the local/international business community, diplomacy, patience, passion, a little more patience, and an awareness of how to maintain (and improve) your relevance. Also, as long-term American expat Jeffrey Jones of Kim & Chang puts it, "to succeed in Korea, you have to stick to your principles, but be flexible." Excellent advice, indeed.

I am sure there are other things which I could tell you which don't come to mind right now. Perhaps the inevitable gaps could be filled in by other members of KBC.

With hopes that my two won helped...

Todd Sample

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Permalink Reply by David Clark on January 10, 2010 at 12:03am

Dear all -

I can't thank you enough for all of your valuable time and insight. Though I still need to dive deeper and deeper into each comment, just seeing the amount of expertise, experience, and plain o'l support everyone is willing to share helps show how useful sites like KBC can really be.

Mr. Bammel, LaVigne, Sample, Moffat, and Rubino - my kindest regards to each of you. Thank you.

David Clark

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Permalink Reply by Dave Woods on January 10, 2010 at 1:44am

I suspect this reference material will soon be one of the charter threads in the KBC Hall of Fame. Herein lies some of the most specific and genuine advice I've seen. The knowledge base potential here appears tremendous.
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Please keep this valuable tool bumped and working, Steven. I'll contribute what I can after following up myself on some of the organizations above.
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Brett's networking outline...worth thousands of USD in consulting advice (No HR, luv that)
Dom's outline...worth probably hundreds of hours filtering online organizations & endless emails
Todd's understanding "patience" as a strategic priority...priceless.

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Permalink Reply by David Clark on January 17, 2010 at 1:18am

Thank you Mr. Woods - I'd have to agree with you.

Along with this humble *bump*, I'd again like to thank those who have contributed thus far.

Cheers

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