Vietnamese MZers ensnared by K-beauty, K-fashion, K-everything

HANOI – Vietnam’s young people are avid fans of Korean culture, collectively known as Hallyu. Trang, a 21-year-old college student, is one of these MZers, or millennials and Generation Zers born between 1980 and the early 2000s – the new consumer group that has quickly become the focus of many brands.

“I came here to learn how to do Korean style make-up,” she said at the Korea Brand & Entertainment Expo (KBEE) 2022 Hanoi.

“I grew up as a fan of Korean stars such as Hyun Bin, Kim Se-jeong and Park Min-young. And now my interest has widened to Korean culture overall, including cosmetics.”

The exhibition, an annual event organized by Korea’s trade ministry and KOTRA, its trade promotion agency, opened in the Vietnamese capital on Thursday for a two-day run to showcase everything Korean, from Korean goods and services to K-pop, K-beauty and K-entertainment.

More than 130 small and medium-sized Korean companies are taking part in KBEE 2022 to promote their products and seek business opportunities with Vietnamese buyers, organizers said.

The participating Korean SMEs will run their own booths to showcase their goods to potential buyers from some 300 companies operating throughout Southeast Asia.

Among the popular booths at the expo are those run by talent agencies such as YG Entertainment Inc., Jellyfish Entertainment and Keystone Entertainment.

"As an elementary school student, I watched Korean dramas and fell in love with Korean actors just like many of my friends,” said an 18-year-old female.

Korean singer and actress Kim Se-jeong and boy band Winner (consisting of four members – Jinu, Hoony, Mino and Seungyoon) are honorary ambassadors for this year’s KBEE.

DEALMAKING AT THE EXPO

Some smaller Korean enterprises have already clinched deals with Vietnamese buyers.

E-Future Co., a Kosdaq-listed English education company, said it has signed a contract to sell an English education system worth $250,000 a year to a Vietnamese firm.

“Our products have already proven their superiority in Korea, the hottest market for English education books and teaching materials in the world,” said Chief Executive Lee Ki-hyun.

Seven Korean companies have so far signed export contracts worth a combined $8.76 million at the Hanoi fair, according to organizers.

“Celebrating the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries this year, South Korea and Vietnam have each become one of the most important economic allies for the other,” said KOTRA Chief Executive Yu Jeong-yeol.

Write to Ik-Hwan Kim at lovepen@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.