South Korea will aim to export US$7.7bn worth of agricultural goods this year by expanding its presence in China and southeast Asia
According to the country’s Ministry of Agriculture, the goal represented more than a 24.4 per cent increase compared to US$6.19bn worth of farm goods shipped out in 2014.
“In 2014, farm exports grew by 8.1 per cent, far outpacing the country’s overall export growth of 2.4 per cent,” added the ministry.
Lee Ju-myeung, director at Ministry of Agriculture, said that the top priority was to get South Korean farm and processed food products into department stores and online shopping malls.
“The global farm and food market stands at US$5.7 trillion annually, exceeding the market size of automobiles. Without exports, South Korea’s farming sector can collapse but exporting the agricultural produce abroad can turn farm products into future growth engines,” noted the director.
The Ministry of Agriculture revealed that efforts were also in progress to ship locally produced pears to overseas markets such as Argentina and Brazil.
