Korean firms sign record $33.26 million in on-site deals, MOUs Visitors look around the exhibition area of the Korea Brand and Entertainment Expo at the National Convention Center in Hanoi, Vietnam, Friday . (KOTRA) HANOI, Vietnam — Phuong leaned closer to a mirror at a booth inside Hanoi’s National Convention Center, dabbing a soft pink Korean lipstick onto her lip as K-pop music blared across the exhibition hall.The 23-year-old student had come for a chance to win a ticket to see Winner, the K-pop boy group serving as the ambassador for the Korea Brand and Entertainment Expo. But like many young Vietnamese visitors moving from booth to booth, she was also there to sample what was on offer, from cosmetics and street food to beauty services.“This is my first time trying this brand,” said Phuong, holding a lipstick by Korean brand Andear at a booth by Korean retail giant Shinsegae and online fashion platform W Concept. “Korean cosmetics are soft and suitable for Asian skins. I like them.” Visitors take selfies in hanbok at the Korea Brand and Entertainment Expo at the National Convention Center in Hanoi, Vietnam, Friday. (Ahn Sung-mi/The Korea Herald) Nearby, Pham Thanh Truc, also 21, posed for selfies with friends in hanbok after trying a kimchi-making program, She said the kimchi was “delicious” and not too spicyAround them, the hall felt less like a conventional trade fair than a Korean culture playground. Visitors tried on hanbok, sampled Korean street food and had their makeup done like K-pop stars. Outside the exhibition hall, crowds watched university teams compete in a Korean food contest, rolling kimbap and frying Korean-style chicken, while others lined up to make ramyeon in instant cookers like the ones often seen along Seoul’s Han River. Visitors get their makeup done at a makeup station during the Korea Brand and Entertainment Expo in Hanoi, Vietnam. (Ahn Sung-mi/The Korea Herald) For South Korea, that consumer enthusiasm is being turned into a trade strategy.The Korea Brand and Entertainment Expo ran Thursday to Saturday in the Vietnamese capital, marking the 27th edition of the Hallyu-themed trade and consumer event.This year’s expo was jointly hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp., the first such collaboration between the agencies.The event drew around 20,000 visitors through K-pop shows, business meetings, product trials and hands-on cultural programs. K-pop groups Winner and Fifty Fifty, the official ambassadors for the expo, held opening performances, fan meet-ups and talks concerts. K-pop group Winner performs at the opening ceremony of the Korea Brand and Entertainment Expo at the National Convention Center in Hanoi, Vietnam, Friday. (KOTRA) Korean and Vietnamese officials and brand ambassadors, including Winner and Fifty Fifty, pose for a photo during the opening ceremony of the Korea Brand and Entertainment Expo at the National Convention Center in Hanoi, Vietnam, Friday. (KOTRA) It also brought together Korean consumer-goods exporters, major retail platforms and partners including Hyundai Home Shopping, Shinsegae, E-mart, Musinsa and Saengong, as well as large Vietnamese retail channels such as K-Market and Sammi Shop.Seoul is betting that the same force that made K-dramas, K-pop and Korean food familiar to young consumers across Asia can help build a more stable export engine.“As consumer goods sales are built on trust, K-consumer goods are evolving into premium products that combine culture and reliability in ASEAN markets such as Vietnam, where demand for safe consumption is growing,” KOTRA President Kang Kyung-sung said. “We will work to expand a virtuous export cycle linking K-culture and consumer goods, building on Vietnam’s strong growth potential and the momentum from the recent summit-level exchanges between the two countries.” Visitors cook ramyeon at a self-cooking noodle station during the Korea Brand and Entertainment Expo at the National Convention Center in Hanoi, Vietnam, Friday. (Ahn Sung-mi/The Korea Herald) At another booth, Nguyen Phuong Thao, 20, ate her ramyeon at the self-cooking ramen station.“It’s my first time cooking and trying ramyeon,” she said. “I saw it on the internet and thought making ramyeon at the Han River looked cool. It’s delicious and a little bit spicy.”Even kindergarten children were part of the crowd. Hang Nga, a teacher from Kids Smile preschool, said 44 children aged 4 and 5, accompanied by five teachers, came with her to the expo. At the kids' zone, children dressed in hanbok and jumped along with a VR game, while others read books or joined in other activities.“We came here because It is a fun and helpful environment for the children,” she said. “They can experience new activities, move their bodies and enjoy different programs. They are enjoying it very much.”Korean brands court Southeast Asian buyersAlongside the public-facing booths, the mood was more businesslike as Korean exporters pitched cosmetics, skincare devices, food and beverages, health products, pharmaceuticals and fashion items to local buyers.According to KOTRA, 107 Korean consumer-goods companies held 1,512 meetings with more than 280 buyers from Vietnam and nearby markets. The talks led to more than $33.26 million in contracts and memorandums of understanding signed on-site, the largest such figure in the history of the Hallyu expo.Choi Sook-jin, CEO of Gewissen, a South Korean cosmetics company seeking to launch its Alpenmoor 1618 brand in Vietnam, said the buyers she met in Hanoi were well prepared.“The buyers already understood what they were looking for, and because KOTRA had vetted the companies in advance and arranged the meetings, both sides came in with a basic understanding of each other’s needs,” Choi said. “At other trade fairs, we often start from the first step. Here, the talks were already much more developed, allowing us to move straight into practical discussions.”Choi said Vietnamese buyers showed strong interest in whitening, lifting and other functional skincare products, as well as body care items suited to the country’s humid climate. Buyers meet with Korean companies at the Korea Brand and Entertainment Expo at the National Convention Center in Hanoi, Vietnam. (KOTRA) Across the hall, Jeon Joong-ha, CEO of Korea B&C, a cosmetics company based in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang Province, said perception of Korean beauty products in overseas market has changed dramatically.“The response to Korean products has become much stronger and the ‘Made in Korea’ label now carries real trust,” Jeon said. “Hallyu is part of it, but buyers also recognize that Korean products are high quality.”Korean Ginseng Story, a maker of traditional red ginseng products and extracts, already sells in Vietnam through multiple channels, but the expo gave the company fresh opportunities to widen its distribution network, CEO Suh Min-ho said.“Vietnamese consumers already see Korean ginseng as something valuable,” Suh said. “We met new buyers that will help us broaden our distribution channels through local distributors, supermarket and e-commerce platform.”Suh said he met buyers from Thailand and Singapore, opening the possibility of testing other Southeast Asian markets. Korean snacks and food products are displayed at the K-Market booth during the Korea Brand and Entertainment Expo in Hanoi, Vietnam, Friday. (Ahn Sung-mi/The Korea Herald) For Vietnamese buyers, the expo served as a curated sourcing platform for Korean products with potential to enter local distribution channels.Le Thi Minh Phuong, a buyer from Hung JSC, Vietnamese medical-device import and distribution company, came looking for cosmetics, skincare products and scalp care devices, citing rising demand for hair-loss solutions in Vietnam.“This exhibition gives Vietnamese and Korean companies a chance to meet,” she said. “We found many good products and see it as a good opportunity to bring more Korean products to Vietnam.”