KOTRA chief chairs CIS trade meeting in Ulaanbaatar, vows to secure supply chains and markets

The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) is stepping up on-the-ground support across the Commonwealth of Independent States, treating the region as a strategic hub for supply chain stability and export market diversification. Despite prolonged geopolitical uncertainty from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the agency sees Central Asia in particular as a zone of expanding opportunity in resource cooperation, consumer goods exports and infrastructure projects.

KOTRA held its CIS Regional Trade and Investment Expansion Strategy Meeting in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on Wednesday, chaired by President Kang Kyung-sung. The gathering brought together the heads of 11 KOTRA trade offices covering 13 Eurasian countries.

"The CIS region is a strategic market where supply chain stability and export market diversification can be achieved simultaneously, even amid geopolitical uncertainty," Kang said. "We will further strengthen field-centered support so that Korean companies can seize new opportunities in this era of economic security."

The CIS region is both a supply chain hub rich in energy and mineral resources and a consumer market of about 290 million people. Its strategic value is growing as it sits at the intersection of future logistics corridors — including the Middle Corridor linking Asia and Europe through Central Asia and the Caucasus, and the Northern Sea Route.

Central Asian countries have maintained relatively strong growth even as the Russia-Ukraine conflict drags on. South Korea's exports to the CIS region rose 19 percent year-on-year to $14.3 billion last year, recovering to pre-conflict levels, according to KOTRA.

Demand for Korean consumer goods has also been gaining traction. At the 2026 CIS K-Food Fair held in Moscow last month, 45 buyers from CIS countries including Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine and Mongolia met with 37 South Korean exporters, generating $21.1 million in export consultations. MOUs and contracts worth $2.23 million were signed, centered on fresh fruit and ready-to-eat meal products.

The meeting's central themes were supply chain cooperation and expanding exports of Korean consumer goods. With the prolonged Russia-Ukraine conflict accelerating a global supply chain realignment, KOTRA plans to broaden cooperation with Central Asian countries as the strategic importance of key resources such as energy and rare earth elements grows.

A priority is leveraging the Korea-Central Asia C5+1 summit, scheduled for South Korea in September, to strengthen supply chain partnerships linking technology and natural resources. The C5 refers to the five Central Asian nations — Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

KOTRA plans to sign an MOU in September with KazTrade, the trade policy development center under Kazakhstan's Ministry of Trade and Integration, to boost bilateral trade. It will also establish a Korea-Uzbekistan Business Council to create a standing framework for cooperation between companies of the two countries.

KOTRA is also expanding its footprint in the Caucasus. Using Azerbaijan as a logistics and project hub, the agency will pursue freight cooperation and identify new business opportunities, while continuously monitoring shifts in the sanctions environment stemming from the Russia-Ukraine conflict to help Korean firms find alternative markets.

In consumer goods, KOTRA is capitalizing on the spread of hallyu and e-commerce. Central Asia's growing young consumer base and rapidly expanding online retail market are creating greater openings for Korean products including cosmetics, food and household goods.

In Kazakhstan, the CU convenience store chain has grown to 60 outlets since opening its first location in 2024. In Russia, a Korean cross-border reverse-purchase service is set to launch by the end of next year. KOTRA plans to expand cooperation with local online platforms such as Wildberries to widen distribution networks for Korean consumer goods.

In the second half of this year, KOTRA will hold a "K-Goods Summer Wave" event in Russia. Next year, it is preparing a Trans-Siberian Railway K-consumer goods pop-up store to mark the 90th anniversary of Koryo-saram history. The agency aims to narrow the distance with local consumers by drawing on cultural touchpoints including hallyu and the history of ethnic Koreans in the region.

Support for project and infrastructure contracts will run in parallel. As major CIS countries push to develop domestic industries and attract investment, participation in local projects and building partnerships are emerging as important modes of market entry beyond simple product exports.

KOTRA plans to identify promising projects in each country in advance and expand package-style support bundling supply chain, project and consumer goods initiatives. It will also strengthen real-time market intelligence, help resolve corporate difficulties, identify local partners and support project contract wins.

"In the era of economic security, securing both supply chains and markets together is the foundation of corporate competitiveness," Kang said. "KOTRA will pursue culture- and history-integrated marketing tailored to the CIS region's characteristics to deliver results in supply chain cooperation, Korean consumer goods exports and strategic project contracts — and to make the CIS a new growth base for Korean companies."