Posted on April 10th, 2023

Monocle magazine Interview (Nov 2022)

When avian flu decimated South Korea's egg supply in 2016, Sam Cho snapped into action. A second-generation Korean-American in Seattle, Cho started an export business that sold more than 1,000 metric tonnes of eggs to South Korea, raking in Sr.8m (€1.8m) in revenue the first year. "I follow Korean news," he says. "It helps in identifying opportunities." As an elected port commissioner, it is now his job to ensure that other Korean immigrants can follow in his footsteps.

Against a backdrop of waning multilateralism and rising trade friction, entrepreneurs such as Cho are the US government's secret weapon in its efforts to grow international commerce this year. The US Small Business Administration has launched a programme designed to kick-start small-business exports from the nation's wealth of diaspora communities, starting in September 2022 with a Korean-American export trade fair in Seattle.

Diaspora communities "are predisposed to export back to their countries of origin," says Office of International Trade associate administrator Gabriel Esparza. "That's not just a hunch, it's rooted in the data." A study from 2021 found that first- generation immigrants represent a fifth of all US business owners, despite comprising just 13 per cent of the population. As part of his job, Esparza traverses the US pitching the Small Business Administration's grants and incentives to inculcate more diaspora deals, from Colombians in Miami to West Africans in New York. At the Seattle stop of the roadshow, we meet John S Lee, whose 20-year career includes working for the South Korean SMEs and Start-ups Agency and a stint bringing products from the country to German retailer Edeka. Having relocated to Seattle, Lee started Unilab Hub as a beachhead for South Korean firms to grow in the US market. He is also trying to find American companies who will send their goods the other way, leaning on his fluency in the Asian nation's business culture and regulations.

Lee's advantage is one that Cho understands well. "There is a level of kinship because we're fellow Koreans," he says. "That is a huge head start because business relationships are based on trust." - GRS