Seoul, Sep 24 (NationPress) South Korean enterprises are poised to finalize export agreements totaling $30 million during a business collaboration event linked to the forthcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, as stated by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) on Wednesday.

The agreements are anticipated to be finalized during the two-day Korea-APEC Business Partnership that commenced earlier Wednesday in Gyeongju, located approximately 330 kilometers southeast of Seoul, and is expected to host around 500 companies from both domestic and international markets, according to KOTRA, as reported by Yonhap news agency.

The deals encompass exports of consumer products, AI-powered road safety information services, educational communication gadgets, and components for heavy machinery.

This business partnership event will also create avenues for Korean firms to explore collaboration with foreign companies in areas like trade, supply chains, and infrastructure, KOTRA clarified.

KOTRA has announced plans for additional business initiatives, including Export Boom-up Korea and Invest Korea Summit, in conjunction with the APEC summit scheduled for Gyeongju from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1.

In other news, South Korean retailers experienced a 3.7 percent sales increase year-on-year in August, despite declines in sales at large-to-mid-sized discount stores, according to data released on Wednesday.

Prominent offline retail chains saw sales drop 3.1 percent year-on-year last month, following a 2.7 percent increase in July.

Conversely, sales on major online platforms surged 10.5 percent over the same period, maintaining a strong growth trend since January.

The ministry pointed out that declines in large and medium-sized retail stores, especially in the food segment, constrained the overall sales growth among major South Korean retailers. Discount stores failed to leverage a spike in demand ahead of the Chuseok holiday, the ministry added.

This year’s Chuseok holiday will be observed from Oct. 5 to 8, occurring more than two weeks later than last year.

In the offline sector, convenience store sales rose 1.1 percent year-on-year, supported by the government’s issuance of “consumption coupons” in July aimed at boosting private consumption.

Sales at department stores climbed 2.8 percent year-on-year, aided by growth in the fashion sector, which was influenced by heat waves that affected the region last month.

In the online sphere, sales of food items, cosmetics, and services soared by 16.3 percent, 13.5 percent, and 18.1 percent, respectively.