On Tuesday 10th of March CITO representatives Linn Hantoft and Tommy Engqvist visited Business Sweden’s office in Seoul in South Korea. They encountered Axel Brangenfeldt and Sookyoung Lim who both work as consultants at the South Korean office. Business Sweden is a merger between Exportrådet and Invest Sweden in 2013 and assist Swedish companies to grow internationally as well as attracting strategic investments to Sweden. The Swedish Government and Swedish businesses jointly own them. Because of the merger and the joint ownership they do have a great knowledge about South Korea and also a large contact network. Business Sweden has about 50 offices worldwide and in East Asia they have offices in for example Taiwan, Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong. In many offices there are a lot of Swedish employees but in Asia overall there is not that many since there is a big language barrier and cultural differences in all of these countries. In the Seoul office there are three Swedish employees out of about 10 people.
The role of a consultant at Business Sweden involves everything from answering standard questions about South Korea, to carry out strategic consultancy projects as well as export promotion activities. Axel and Sookyoung mention that the business environments in South Korea and Sweden have both differences and similarities. For example, both countries rank very high when it comes to the ease of doing business. This combined with the growing South Korean economy makes this market good for Business Sweden as well as Swedish companies to grow in. At the same time it is important to be aware of local demands and adjustments to have a successful and sustainable business. Business Sweden are looking for persons that has the right attitude, exactly what you are studying is not the most important. Having international experience is a plus, especially if you have experience from the specific country where you are applying for a job at. If you are interested to know more about Business Sweden please visit www.business-sweden.com