President Kim Jae-soo of Korea Agro-Fisheries and Trade Corp.(aT) 

A view of the aT building which includes the sales stands of farm produces and fish.(Photos:KFS)

Korea Agro-Fisheries and Trade Corp. (aT) has decided to cooperate with the Korea Forestry Service (KFS) to help export forestry produces overseas, particularly to China, in the wake of the free trade agreement (FTA) to be officially validated later this year.

The two entities will focus on the exports of such forestry produces as nuts, mushrooms, pot flowers and mountain ginseng roots by providing support to the exporters of those produces through successful exploration of overseas markets for those forestry and agricultural produces.

This year, they will select 17 firms to engage in the exports of those produces and help them explore overseas markets by allocating 700 million won out of the 2 billion won earmarked for the projects. 

The firms will be selected from Feb. 25 to March 16. They include export firms, farms producing those produces for exports and the packaging firms, so that they can be displayed at international expositions and conduct marketing for the produces. 

They are ready to provide as much as 50 million won to each of the selected firms preparing to export those produces through overseas market exploration.

Any firms interested in the project are invited to apply through aT’s hompage (http://at.or.kr) or (http://global.at.co.kr) to confirm the support they are eligible for, the level of support and their responsibilities. They can get more details by contacting the aT Daejeon Sejong South Chungcheong Province Headquarters by calling 042-389-5007.

For decades, nuts, mushrooms, pot flowers and dried persimmons, among others, have been exported overseas, mainly to Southeast Asia. In 2013, their exports came to $489 million, due to a poor harvest and the low value of the Japanese yen. Last year, production showed a great improvement and their exports are likely to show a huge increase over the previous year, with aT and the Korea Forestry Office going to great lengths to support the exports of those produces. 

Innovative improvement is required in complicated distribution stages and distribution cost recurring structure. aT will enhance distribution efficiency by strengthening direct transactions of agricultural products and increasing scale and systematizing farming households.

aT has established a foundation for the development of the Korean food industry through support for food companies, systematization of food industry information, nurturing of professional workforce and so forth since 2009.

The world grain market experienced a decrease in supply caused by climate change and an increase in demand caused by the development of bio-alternative energy. aT will do everything possible to stabilize a grain supply to secure domestic staple food. aT will continue to do its best to grow as a public organization that is loved and trusted by all stakeholders and to create value for the nation and people.

The Korea Forest Service (KFS) partially reorganized its divisions and relaunched the Forestry Trade Division on the Jan. 6.

The new division, mainly in charge of the trade and export of forest products, is expected to enhance the ability to respond to the fast-changing trade environment, such as the recently signed Korea-China FTA and increase exports of domestic products. It also plans to expand markets overseas, build export capacity by newly assisting export supporting funds (insurance, certification, etc.), and take action in prohibiting illegal logging and associated trade.

"We have set an export target of $500 million for forest products this year, in order to actively respond to the rapidly changing trade environment," said Lee Soon-wook, Director of the Forestry Trade Division, at a press conference. "Our division will do our best to create more opportunities in exporting and introducing the high-quality forest products of Korea to the world."