South Korea and Ecuador have signed a Strategic Economic Cooperation Agreement, paving the way for enhanced bilateral trade. Amidst this deal, Tridge spotlights the potential of global agri-food trade between the two nations.

South Korea and Ecuador recently signed a Strategic Economic Cooperation Agreement (SECA) to improve bilateral trade and cooperation between the two countries. Same with free trade agreement (FTA), the Korea-Ecuador SECA is expected to pave a number of business potentials between the two countries by eliminating tariffs up to 96.4% on items.

Hoshik Shin, the founder and CEO of Tridge, was invited as a guest speaker at the forum held right after the agreement by the Embassy of Ecuador in Korea on behalf of the Ecuadorian Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade, Investments and Fisheries. He gave a celebration speech for expanding the ties between the two nations.

“Ecuador holds great significance for Korea and Tridge as we actively engage in global trade in the agri-food industry,” he shared. He gave a speech reflecting the goals of strengthening national ties and exploring new business opportunities. “Tridge has also sourced Ecuadorian products with its fulfillment solutions and has facilitated numerous trade deals with neighboring Asian countries like Hong Kong, Singapore, and many more.”

Other participants in the event were Ingu Park (Vice president of Dongwon group), Daniel Legarda (Minister of Production, Foreign Trade, Investments and Fisheries), JongKap Kim (Chief Executive Director of GDIN), José Hidalgo (Executive Director at AEBE Association of Ecuador Banana Exporters). 

Shin explained that Ecuador is recognized worldwide for its high-quality agriculture products, including seafood like shrimp and tuna, as well as fruits such as bananas and passion fruit – all of which are popular in international markets. Nevertheless, direct imports from Ecuador to Korea have often faced regulatory challenges, unlike in Chile and Peru where market entry is smoother due to existing Free Trade Agreements with Korea.

He highlighted the potential benefits of a Korea-Ecuador FTA by citing the example of Peruvian avocados. “We've seen firsthand how quickly regulatory changes, including FTAs, can create, expand, shrink, or close markets."

In the last 7 years, Tridge, which started out as a data-only company, has accumulated and analyzed agricultural and food data and leveraged them into robust insights and services for our customers. And the business continues to evolve. “We don't just provide data, but we skillfully incorporate it into trade transactions to provide actionable insights,” stated Shin. 

“We believe this will be an export infrastructure that will serve as a meaningful bridgehead for Ecuadorian agricultural products,” Shin mentioned. “We hope that you will use Tridge platform to create opportunities for Ecuadorian agri-food products to enter South Korea, where tariffs will be gradually eliminated after the FTA is taken into effect, as well as for secondary and tertiary processing products based in South Korea to expand to neighboring key countries.”

Tridge's enterprise solutions, which helps agri-food market players around the world understand how to best capitalize on market opportunities and stay ahead of the curve, is bolstered by its trade and fulfillment services. 

Additionally, Tridge’s global export solution enables 2 million B2B agri-food stakeholders around the world to uncover new products, identify strategic markets, find targeted buyers for each market, and connect directly with buyers to generate new business.