Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs "Achieving Results Through Comprehensive Support Including Logistics, Promotion, Buyer Assistance, and Close Company Management"
Next Year, Focus on 'Strategic Item Development, Establishment of Fresh Logistics System, and New Market Expansion'
This year, agricultural and food exports surpassed 9 billion dollars, marking a record high.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced that as of the third week of December (the 23rd), agricultural and food export value reached 9.01 billion dollars, a 3.0% increase compared to the same period last year, achieving the highest performance ever.
The ministry explained that despite difficult external conditions such as the global economic slowdown this year, the combined efforts of export companies in market development and the government's comprehensive export support led to this result.
In January this year, the ministry formed the 'K-Food Plus Export Expansion Headquarters,' involving both public and private sectors, and established the K-Food Plus export expansion strategy in February to promote active export expansion policies for the industrialization of agricultural and food products and related industries.
First, to pioneer export routes, they matched and supported prominent buyers and discovered various demand channels. Approximately 1,240 companies participated in two buyer invitation consultation meetings, 24 international food fairs, and seven K-Food fairs. There were 367 export agreements between companies, resulting in export contracts worth about 170 million dollars. For countries with sluggish export items such as chicken in Vietnam and processed coffee products in Indonesia, new sales channels such as food ingredient companies were discovered and supported. Additionally, promising export items with quarantine agreements concluded, such as strawberries from the Philippines and citrus from New Zealand (10 items), plant-based alternative meat using mushrooms, and green tea blending tea developed using local specialties confirmed their potential for overseas expansion through initial exports.
Alongside this, to expand exports of major items, the ministry collaborated with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to promote product placement (PPL) linked with various Korean Wave (Hallyu) contents such as dramas. From the end of this year, a total of 10 Korean agricultural and food products including grapes, strawberries, and paprika will be promoted through Hallyu content.
They also expanded specialized distribution and logistics infrastructure for fresh agricultural products and provided additional support for logistics costs (increasing from a maximum of 15% to 25%), resulting in significant growth in key fresh foods such as kimchi, strawberries, and grapes. Support is provided for joint forwarding (strawberries), dedicated shipping space (pear), and ships using CA technology, a freshness preservation technology that controls oxygen concentration in the air to inhibit microbial growth and reproduction, improving quality and reducing logistics burdens.
Diplomatic efforts to pioneer export markets also showed significant results. In September this year, during the Korea-Indonesia summit, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on halal food cooperation was signed, and in November, a mutual recognition agreement was established between two domestic halal certification bodies and Indonesia's halal certification agency (BPJPH), laying the foundation for export companies to enter the halal market.
They also addressed difficulties faced by companies identified through field visits and meetings. This year, 400 issues were identified; 344 of these were immediately reflected in policies such as the development of the K-Food logo, support for cold storage of raw agricultural products like napa cabbage, and expanded support for logistics costs and export insurance in the second half of the year. The remaining 56 issues requiring inter-ministerial consultation are under further review.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs plans to continue actively promoting export expansion policies next year to achieve record-high agricultural and food export performance. They plan to reorganize the business system centered on an integrated export organization to strengthen capabilities such as quality control, logistics cost reduction, and research and development (R&D). Along with this, they will foster new strategic export items following strawberries through domestic variety development, expansion of pilot fields, and market tests.
They will also establish a specialized logistics system for fresh agricultural products covering all export stages. Costs for cold storage facilities and vehicles from domestic production to overseas sales points, as well as special packaging materials, will be supported, and customs procedures will be simplified by utilizing joint logistics centers near airports and ports. Furthermore, they plan to support entry into new markets such as halal and Latin America, promote collaborative marketing between large and small-medium enterprises, and implement various export strategies tailored to the market, including large-scale food fairs.
Kwon Jae-han, Director of Agricultural Innovation Policy at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said, "Although this year was challenging, achieving the highest performance ever was thanks to the efforts of farmers and export companies," adding, "Next year, we will do our best to continue the growth trend by leveraging opportunities such as the expansion of the K-Food brand and demand recovery in major export markets."
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