From Regulatory Reform to Export Demonstration: Transforming the Coffee Industry
Park Sungho: "Fostering BJFEZ as the Hub of the Northeast Asian Coffee Industry"
A new business model is expected to emerge that covers the entire lifecycle of green coffee beans, from import to export.
On August 13, the Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone Authority (headed by Park Sungho, hereinafter referred to as BJFEZ Authority) held the 'BJFEZ Coffee Industry Revitalization Seminar (Coffee to Biz in BJFEZ)' at the complex cultural space P-ark in Yeongdo-gu, Busan.
The Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone boasts institutional flexibility, global accessibility, and infrastructure optimized for logistics, storage, and processing, as it encompasses the Busan New Port, where 94% of the country's coffee imports arrive, as well as hinterland complexes and a free trade zone. Leveraging these strengths, the BJFEZ Authority has actively worked to attract global companies and foster new industries.
This seminar presented a high value-added coffee industry business model that encompasses the entire cycle from import, processing, and distribution to export. It was also held to serve as a starting point for forming a working group aimed at institutional improvements and feasibility studies, based on on-site feedback from each segment of the value chain.
More than 50 participants from the Korea Maritime Institute, the Bank of Korea Busan Headquarters, Busan Metropolitan City, Gyeongsangnam-do Province, Busan Main Customs, Busan Port Authority, Busan Research Institute, Gyeongnam Research Institute, Busan-Gyeongnam Technopark, LGC Co., Ten Percent Coffee, Central Pacific Bank, and others attended the event, engaging in in-depth discussions on revitalizing the coffee industry through collaboration between industry, academia, and government.
During the seminar, the Korea Maritime Institute (KMI), which delivered the keynote presentation, introduced a smart coffee industry business model based on IoT and blockchain technologies. This model digitizes and integrates the entire process, from green bean import, pre-processing, refining and blending, storage, to export, and was recognized as having practical implementation potential within the free trade zone.
Following this, Lim Sujeong, CEO of LGC Co., presented a plan to establish a direct supply chain connecting coffee-producing regions in Southeast Asia and Central and South America with Busan. She also proposed a strategy to develop Busan Port into a Northeast Asian coffee logistics hub by leveraging its global transshipment capabilities.
Moon Juho, Head of Ten Percent Coffee, provided insights from the perspective of large-scale roasting and processing companies, suggesting ways to streamline infrastructure, permitting, and certification processes necessary for establishing a coffee manufacturing cluster, and conveyed the practical needs of companies on the ground.
The Bank of Korea Busan Headquarters shared a research report outlining the growth potential and policy direction for the regional coffee industry, and made policy recommendations such as fostering local brands, establishing shared infrastructure, and strengthening the industrial ecosystem.
The BJFEZ Authority plans to use this seminar as a springboard to actively pursue the identification of complex regulatory improvement tasks such as quarantine, certification, and customs clearance; conduct feasibility reviews and develop step-by-step demonstration plans; and form collaborative networks among related organizations.
In practice, a working group centered on the participating organizations will be formed by September, and the BJFEZ Authority aims to finalize a roadmap for commercializing the coffee industry within the free trade zone, with the goal of linking demonstration projects in 2026.
Park Sungho, head of the authority, stated, "This seminar marks the first step in public-private cooperation for revitalizing the coffee industry and is significant in that it has established a practical foundation for implementation accompanied by institutional improvements."
He added, "Last year, the BJFEZ Authority designated green coffee beans as one of its five strategic items, and recently, through a Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy notification, added 'coffee processing' as a core strategic industry for the free economic zone. Based on the excellent logistics infrastructure of the Busan New Port hinterland, we are accelerating the creation of a coffee industry cluster."
At the 'BJFEZ Coffee Industry Revitalization Seminar' held on the 13th at the P-ark complex cultural space in Yeongdo-gu, Busan, Park Seongho (7th from the left), head of the Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone Authority, is taking a commemorative photo with the attendees.
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