[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Du-yeol] Busan Port Authority (BPA) held the opening ceremony of the second branch of the ‘BEF Smart Farm’ at the International Financial Center Station subway station on the 22nd, together with nine public institutions in the Busan area, including the Korea Asset Management Corporation.
The BEF Smart Farm was built with the support of the ‘Busan Social Economy Support Fund (BEF).’
BEF is a fund established by nine public institutions in the Busan area to support the sustainable growth of social economy enterprises.
The opening ceremony was attended by the Korea Technology Finance Corporation, Busan Urban Corporation, Busan Port Authority, Korea Housing & Urban Guarantee Corporation, Korea South-East Power Co., Ltd., Korea Securities Depository, Korea Asset Management Corporation, Korea Housing Finance Corporation, and Korea Ocean Business Corporation.
The ‘BEF Smart Farm 2nd Branch’ located inside Busan International Financial Center Station is a social urban agriculture facility that utilizes information and communication technology (ICT) throughout the entire process of agricultural production, processing, and distribution.
In the agricultural production process, socially vulnerable groups such as slow learners are expected to directly participate in vegetable cultivation.
Starting with the opening of the second branch, the nine public institutions in the Busan area, including Busan Port Authority and Korea Asset Management Corporation, expect to expand the spread of smart agriculture in the local community, promote eco-friendly production and distribution structures based on smart farms, and create employment opportunities for socially vulnerable groups.
The BEF Smart Farm support project plans to expand its support scale by additionally supporting the opening of five places selected through the smart farm installation support project contest held in November last year, following the support for the opening of the first smart farm in the Busan area last year.
Kang Jun-seok, President of BPA, said, “Busan Port Authority will continue to collaborate with related organizations to create new jobs in the region and discover new sources of income to coexist with local residents.”
The nine public institutions in the Busan area plan to raise a total fund of 5.17 billion won over five years starting from 2018.
The institutions are actively supporting social economy enterprises in the Busan area with financial support through BEF, management consulting, talent development, and market support.
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