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

The Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corp. (aT) plan to achieve $10 billion in exports of farm and fishery products this year, while boosting the competitive strength of exporters of those products and building export infrastructure for them to be more competitive.

AT will also spur on and offline trade to diversify direct transactions and strengthen the competitive nature of the production location organization and the wholesale markets of those products. 

AT will also strengthen the supply and demand functions to stabilize prices. The company will work on safe and effective management of imported and local farm produce in storage. AT’s main job is to support the government’s policies for promoting exports of farm produce and foodstuffs, so it plans to build a base for exports of produce and other products, create momentum for the growth of exports and provide support to overseas marketing.

To build a bigger export base, aT will nurture leading organization, set up a logistics base overseas and manage those bases safely.

In order to create momentum for export growth, explore products that have a good chance for exports and support the logistics costs connected with exports, aT plans to build an export network, participate in expos around the world, invite foreign buyers to Korea and provide information on exports to exporters.

AT said exports of farm produce and fish and fishery products came to $3.33 billion as of May 31, up 2.7 percent YoY. Exports of fresh farm produce increased 4.9 percent, but exports of processed farm produce slowed down in the first half of this year. By region, exports to North Americ rose 13.9 percent, while those to Japan were down 5.8 percent. 

A view of aT Center in Seoul where aT has offices and facilities for the sale of farm and fisheries products.(Photos: aT)