“We need a sound backup system to help people start agricultural businesses or to return to rural areas to engage in agriculture. We also need to make agriculture one of the core industries of the nation,” President Park Geun-hye said as she stressed the importance of agricultural businesses to the nation’s economy on Aug. 28.
Her remarks came during the opening ceremony of “A Farm Show,” an agricultural fair being held at the aT Center in Yangjae-dong, southern Seoul.
“Many young people, full of dreams and creative ideas, are now getting into the agricultural industry, and most noteworthy, they effectively use information and communications technology (ICT) and online channels to do distribution, sales and tourism. The agricultural sector is becoming a new growth engine for the nation,” said the president during her speech.
During the three-day fair that ran until Aug. 30, a total of 158 booths were set up by farmers, allowing visitors, among whom were middle-aged entrepreneurs who want to return to the countryside to work in agriculture, and young people who were interested in creating an agricultural business, to browse a variety of agricultural products and how they were made.
President Park then proposed a series of directions that the national agricultural industry could take. “First of all, we could make agriculture a key industry of the future by integrating IT, biotech and food-processing. This integration would surely create additional value and increase productivity and marketability, as well.”
The president also stressed that, “More efforts should be made to revitalize agricultural regions and the rural economy by linking farms with secondary and tertiary industries, such as processing, distribution, sales and tourism.”
“Lastly, the 17 Centers for a Creative Economy and Innovation across the nation could cooperate with agri-business in their regions, in terms of the development of farming skills, investment and market expansion, creating a new environment for start-ups in the agricultural industry and food sectors,” she said.
"The government, too, will help expand a network to support those who start a business in the countryside or return to such regions, to help them successfully settle there," the president vowed.
By Sohn JiAe
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Cheong Wa Dae, the official website for A Farm Show
jiae5853@korea.kr
Her remarks came during the opening ceremony of “A Farm Show,” an agricultural fair being held at the aT Center in Yangjae-dong, southern Seoul.
“Many young people, full of dreams and creative ideas, are now getting into the agricultural industry, and most noteworthy, they effectively use information and communications technology (ICT) and online channels to do distribution, sales and tourism. The agricultural sector is becoming a new growth engine for the nation,” said the president during her speech.
President Park Geun-hye speaks during the opening ceremony for ‘A Farm Show,’ an agriculture fair that opened on Aug. 28.
During the three-day fair that ran until Aug. 30, a total of 158 booths were set up by farmers, allowing visitors, among whom were middle-aged entrepreneurs who want to return to the countryside to work in agriculture, and young people who were interested in creating an agricultural business, to browse a variety of agricultural products and how they were made.
President Park then proposed a series of directions that the national agricultural industry could take. “First of all, we could make agriculture a key industry of the future by integrating IT, biotech and food-processing. This integration would surely create additional value and increase productivity and marketability, as well.”
The president also stressed that, “More efforts should be made to revitalize agricultural regions and the rural economy by linking farms with secondary and tertiary industries, such as processing, distribution, sales and tourism.”
“Lastly, the 17 Centers for a Creative Economy and Innovation across the nation could cooperate with agri-business in their regions, in terms of the development of farming skills, investment and market expansion, creating a new environment for start-ups in the agricultural industry and food sectors,” she said.
"The government, too, will help expand a network to support those who start a business in the countryside or return to such regions, to help them successfully settle there," the president vowed.
‘A Farm Show,’ kicking off at the aT Center in southern Seoul on Aug. 28, features a series of booths that promote agricultural products produced in farms from across the nation.
President Park Geun-hye (left) attends ‘A Farm Show,’ an agricultural fair in Seoul. She inspects white gourds (top) and other crops on Aug. 28.
President Park Geun-hye listens as a farmer explains his line of perilla oil.
By Sohn JiAe
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Cheong Wa Dae, the official website for A Farm Show
jiae5853@korea.kr