South Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) recently dispatched a Shuttle Economic Cooperation Team to Saudi for this collaboration.
During the visit, vice minister Han Hoon will promote the expansion of South Korea’s smart farming technologies into the Middle East and strengthening cooperation between the two countries.
Part of the collaboration will also see the establishing of a Korean-Saudi business forum, business-to-business consultations, and Korean agricultural product tasting events with entrepreneurs from the smart farming sector.
“Recently, the Middle East region is considering strengthening food security as a major national agenda. As such, there is a high level of interest in Korean intelligent farms or smart farms”, said vice minister Han.
“With this dispatch of the Shuttle Economic Cooperation Team, Korean smart farms and agricultural food exports, we hope that companies will be able to lay a solid foundation for expanding their presence in the Middle East,” said vice minister Han.
Smart farming refers to the use of modern information and communication technologies to increase the quantity and quality of agricultural products.
Sensing technologies, internet of things (IoT), robotics and drones are some of the tools used in smart farming. Farmers could grow their crops without having to worry about weather conditions.
South Korea also plans to discuss cooperation in this area with Qatar.
“Next, vice minister Han Hoon plans to move to Qatar and have a meeting with Qatar Autonomous Administration minister Al Subaie to discuss cooperation between the two countries, including the Doha International Horticultural Expo opening in October 2023,” said MAFRA.
One of the Korean companies that is exporting its smart farming methods into the Middle East is Nongshim.
In March, a consortium led by the company said it would build smart farms growing strawberries in Saudi Arabia.
Smart farming trend growing
According to MAFRA, smart farming is a growing trend in the Middle East. The country had earlier on signed a MoU with the UAE.
In July, during the UAE-South Korea Joint Economic Committee meeting, the two countries identified 11 sectors in which they would cooperate in to boost the economy.
Water resources and smart farming was one of the sectors. Both agreed to exchange techniques and increase investments across this sector.
Earlier in January, South Korea also signed a MoU worth $56m with UAE when president Yoon Suk Yeol visited the country.
