By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter
South Korea has been exporting agricultural technology and infrastructure for over 30 years. Now the country has opened a new chapter in its farming history with its first overseas land development project.
The state-run Korea Rural Community Corporation (KRC) said Thursday it plans to cultivate 100,000 hectares of land in Pwani Province, Tanzania, starting next year, as part of attempts to make inroads into foreign countries.
Earlier this month, Tanzanian Prime Minister Mizengo Kayanza Peter Pinda made the request to Korea for assistance during his visit here. Pinda met with KRC Chairman Hong Moon-pyo to discuss ways to cooperate in terms of farming technology.
The company plans to develop half of the land into a farming village for locals, and lease the rest free of charge for over 50 years so Korean firms can use it as a food-processing complex in the east African country.
The Tanzanian official was optimistic about the plan, saying he will positively consider it, according to the company. ``Africa makes a good bridgehead for advancing into European markets because countries there are a big exporter of farm products to Europe,'' a KRC official said.
Korean food makers can benefit in those facilities in Tanzania because products made there can be shipped free of duty to Europe according to free trade agreements with the European Union, he added.
Tanzania has sufficient potential for agricultural growth, and Korea's support will be focused on building up its infrastructure.
The country has a land size about 4.3 times larger than the Korean Peninsula, and agriculture takes up 46 percent of its gross domestic product. However, its irrigation facilities cover only 3 percent of all farmland there, according to the company.
The first stage of the project ― the cultivation of 10,000 hectares, which will continue through 2015 ― is expected to cost around $500 million out of a total budget estimated at $700 to $800 billion. The KRC plans to offer the project costs in loans, or get the money repaid with the country's mineral resources.
A special task has been formed and will start reviewing the feasibility of the Tanzania project, the KRC said.
Starting with Tanzania, the company looks to expand development projects to other foreign countries.
``We are currently in talks with Laos, Senegal and Mongolia on possible agricultural cooperation and ways to develop farmland in them,'' said Han Sang-woo, executive director of regional development at the KRC. ``Negotiations for exporting our agricultural infrastructure are also underway with Indonesia and Burma.''