Cultural and creative industries are no longer simply an artistic sector — they have become a powerful driver of growth, innovation and export. In Montréal, creative SMEs — from video games and design to audiovisual production, digital arts, immersive experiences and content creation — are no longer asking whether they should look internationally, but where, when and how to position themselves to maximize their impact.
South Korea is emerging as a flagship market, attracting growing international attention.
Five compelling reasons
- One of the world’s most dynamic creative economies
South Korea has established itself as a global reference in the creative economy. Driven by K-pop, cinema, video games, digital arts and distribution platforms, it has demonstrated that strategic investment in culture can generate both international influence and strong economic value.
What sets South Korea apart is not only the size of its market, but its ability to rapidly integrate new content, collaborate with international partners and transform creativity into exportable products, services and experiences.
For Montréal-based creative SMEs, this means an open, curious, technologically advanced market that is constantly seeking new ideas and propositions.
- A market particularly well suited to Montréal
Montréal boasts a globally recognized creative ecosystem, supported by a wide diversity of artistic practices: circus arts, visual and digital arts, cinema, dance, literature, music, theatre and interdisciplinary artistic practices. These areas align with sectors experiencing strong growth in South Korea.
There is therefore a clear complementarity between the two ecosystems: Montréal brings creativity, innovation and production capacity, while South Korea offers powerful distribution platforms, a structured market and partners capable of supporting, deploying and scaling projects internationally.
This complementarity creates concrete opportunities for co-production, distribution, artistic and technological partnerships, as well as the development of new markets.
- Now is the right time
Asian markets are evolving rapidly — and business relationships there are built over the long term. Companies that succeed in Asia are often those that invested early, took the time to understand local business cultures and built relationships based on trust.
For Montréal’s creative SMEs, waiting carries a risk: allowing other players to establish themselves, form partnerships and capture the attention of key decision-makers first.
Taking an interest in South Korea today is not just about short-term sales; it is about positioning within a growing ecosystem for the years ahead.
- The mission is the most effective strategic tool
In this context, economic and cultural missions are not exploratory trips, but true strategic development tools.
They make it possible to:
- quickly understand a complex ecosystem without starting from scratch;
- access decision-makers, distributors and partners who are otherwise difficult to reach;
- validate the relevance of one’s offering in a new market;
- reduce the risks associated with international expansion through structured support.
For SMEs, this represents a significant gain in time, credibility and efficiency.
- International markets are now a growth lever
International expansion is no longer reserved for large corporations. Creative SMEs today have major strengths: agility, innovation, specialization and the ability to collaborate quickly.
South Korea, with its dynamism, openness to collaboration and strong demand for creative and technological content, offers particularly fertile ground for companies ready to take the next step in their development.
More than ever, international markets — and Asia in particular — have become a strategic lever to ensure the growth, resilience and global reach of Montréal’s creative businesses.