Insights on global technology and legal trends, support programs for each institution, and success stories of overseas expansion in one place

KOTRA (CEO Yoo Jeong-yeol), in collaboration with the Korea Rural Community Corporation (CEO Lee Byeong-ho), will hold the ‘2024 Smart Farm Overseas Expansion Support Project Related Organization Briefing Session’ at the Conrad Hotel in Yeouido on the 17th. This briefing session is hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and hosted by KOTRA and the Korea Rural Community Corporation, and a total of eight smart farms and export-related organizations cooperate to guide overseas expansion support projects to Korean smart farm companies.

In addition to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, KOTRA, and the Korea Rural Community Corporation, the Rural Development Administration, Korea Agricultural Technology Promotion Agency, Agricultural Policy Insurance and Finance Agency, One-Stop Export Order Support Group, and Korea Smart Farm Industry Association will participate in this briefing session, and over 150 smart companies will participate. Palm companies applied to participate in the briefing session and showed high will and interest in overseas expansion.

The briefing session will cover smart farm global technology trends, Middle East smart farm policies and laws, and successful cases of smart farm overseas expansion in 2023, starting with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs' plan to revitalize smart farm exports. In particular, we plan to share know-how and insights on smart farm overseas expansion through cases of winning orders for a vertical farm pilot project in Mongolia and grain sorter projects in the CIS region.

Next, we will cover the 2024 smart farm support projects by organization that our smart farm companies can utilize. △KOTRA's smart farm intensive support trade center operation, consortium support project, and K-Smart Farm roadshow △Korea Rural Community Corporation's international agricultural cooperation project (ODA) and agricultural industry export activation project △Rural Development Administration's smart farm package export model and vertical farm strawberry cultivation We will introduce and utilize the technical support group project of the Korea Agricultural Technology Promotion Agency's Korean-style demo greenhouse construction and operation project, the Agricultural Policy Insurance and Finance Institute's Agricultural Food Fund System, and the One-Stop Export and Order Support Group's export support group.

As concerns about climate change and food security spread, the smart farm industry is receiving great attention around the world. Lee Ji-hyeong, head of KOTRA's Economic and Trade Cooperation Division, said, “As of November 2023, Korea's smart farm exports amounted to more than $280 million, an increase of 168% compared to the same period last year, and this was due to strengthened cooperation between governments, especially in the Middle East. “This is big,” he said. “Our companies will be able to seize various opportunities through the demand for smart farms in the Middle East and various incentives.”

In particular, as smart farm order opportunities in the Middle East region expand, KOTRA publishes a report on ‘Middle East and North Africa (MENA) food market trends and smart farm entry strategies’ and provides it to companies participating in the briefing session. This report focuses on △ a localization strategy utilizing the smart farm development initiatives of governments in major countries in the Middle East and North Africa △ a smart farm exhibition in the region △ a Korean model in which the public and private sectors collaborate by utilizing comprehensive cooperation systems such as summit diplomacy, Korea-UAE CEPA, and Korea-GCC FTA. presented strategies such as developing .

Jeong Oe-young, head of KOTRA’s Innovation and Growth Division, said, “As food security concerns spread due to climate change and supply chain instability, global interest in the smart farm industry is increasing.” He added, “In particular, Korean-style smart farms are being introduced in regions such as the Middle East and Central Asia.” “The demand for K-Smart Farm is increasing significantly, and opportunities for Korean companies to win smart farm projects are gradually expanding, so we will continue to cooperate with related organizations to actively support K-Smart Farm’s overseas expansion.”