‘Busan Coffee Industry Development Council’ to Be Held at City Hall at 3 PM on the 27th
Busan to Focus on Becoming a Global Coffee City Leading Coffee Industry and Culture
Busan City has established and is set to implement the "1st Basic Plan for Fostering the Coffee Industry in Busan (2024-2026)", which outlines strategies for developing the coffee industry.
On the 27th at 3 PM, the city held the "2024 Busan Coffee Industry Development Council" in the conference room on the 26th floor of City Hall, where it deliberated and finalized the "1st Basic Plan for Fostering the Coffee Industry" to be pursued over the next three years.
The "Coffee Industry Development Council" is an organization that deliberates on major matters related to the development of Busan's coffee industry. With this inaugural meeting, the council has officially begun its activities. The council consists of a total of 10 members, including coffee experts, industry professionals, and organization representatives.
The "1st Basic Plan for Fostering the Coffee Industry" envisions "Busan as a global coffee city leading the coffee industry and culture." It comprises four main strategies: ▲Establishing a coffee industry development system ▲Building coffee industry infrastructure ▲Fostering companies and cultivating professionals ▲Branding Busan as a global coffee city. These are broken down into 14 strategic tasks and 30 specific action items.
The city plans to allocate approximately 34 billion KRW to implement these initiatives.
The first strategic task, "Establishing a Coffee Industry Development System," focuses on strengthening public-private cooperation, developing a Busan-style coffee certification system, and creating an environment for new coffee business opportunities.
By operating the "Coffee City Busan Forum," which brings together various stakeholders based on public-private cooperation, the city will seek ways to advance the local coffee industry and establish cooperative systems with major coffee-producing countries.
Through the "Busan-style Coffee Certification System," the city will manage traceability information for coffee beans and green beans, thereby enhancing Busan's status as a global logistics hub. Additionally, companies with competitiveness and growth potential will be selected and supported to become representative Busan coffee enterprises.
By fostering coffee manufacturing integrated with the local industrial ecosystem, the city aims to strengthen the growth capacity of the coffee industry and establish a full-cycle management system utilizing coffee grounds.
The second strategic task, "Building Coffee Industry Infrastructure," includes establishing the (tentatively named) Busan Coffee Industry Support Center, promoting the clustering of coffee businesses and attracting companies, and laying the foundation for Busan-style coffee industry tourism, infrastructure, logistics, and distribution.
The Busan Coffee Industry Support Center will serve as a hub for comprehensive support throughout the business cycle, including innovation, technology development, roasting, and marketing, to foster the growth of coffee-related companies.
To leverage the strength that over 90% of domestic green coffee beans pass through Busan, the city will support the clustering of the coffee industry to enable one-stop processing for storage, processing, and distribution of green beans. By utilizing the port's free trade zone, the city will attract companies and explore support measures in cooperation with relevant institutions, including regulatory improvements.
The city will also create coffee-specialized districts linked to local coffee attractions to promote coffee tourism and establish a foundation for enjoying coffee culture.
As the gateway city for coffee imports in Korea, Busan will activate coffee brokerage (green bean storage and export) and processing trade (green bean processing and export) by establishing specialized coffee storage warehouses, working together with coffee experts and companies to realize these plans.
The third strategic task, "Fostering Companies and Cultivating Professionals," aims to strengthen corporate competitiveness, enhance capabilities through research and development, create jobs and support startups in the coffee industry, and cultivate leading professionals and promote coffee education.
Through systematic support programs such as customized consulting, tailored commercialization and marketing, and market development, the city will enhance the competitiveness of coffee-related companies.
By integrating new technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and blockchain with the coffee industry, the city will lay the foundation for growth and proactively promote research and development through customized technology support.
To create jobs and promote startups in the coffee sector, Busan will implement tailored training for coffee professionals, startup support projects, and job and social activity support programs for seniors.
Through field-oriented, specialized coffee education, the city will cultivate professionals to lead the coffee industry and also promote educational programs for citizens, such as training for socially disadvantaged baristas and skill development in the coffee sector.
The fourth strategic task, "Branding Busan as a Global Coffee City," focuses on establishing Busan's coffee city brand and spreading coffee culture through the activation of coffee events.
By upgrading the brand image (BI), developing coffee tourism courses, and creating and branding Busan-style coffee, the city will enhance Busan's status as a global coffee city.
The city will attract prestigious domestic and international coffee events, support local coffee festivals, and develop programs linked with Busan's major festivals to lead the spread of coffee culture.
Shin Changho, Director of the Digital Economy Innovation Office of Busan City, stated, "Busan is the gateway for coffee imports in Korea, the first city in the country to consume coffee, and the first to enact coffee-related ordinances. We plan to actively utilize the strengths of organically connecting coffee with Busan's natural, cultural, and tourism resources to foster the coffee industry as a sustainable new growth engine for the local economy. The city will continue to provide unwavering support to help Busan emerge as a world-class city for the coffee industry and culture."
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